Demon Children
by operaghost96
Summary: Thanks to Rin's brilliant idea, the cram school is taking in half-demon hybrids for training. But how is that going to work when demons show up from Rin's past? Or when the students are killing each other? Submissions Closed!
1. The Idea

**A/N: So I didn't see a whole lot of SYOC (Submit Your Own Character) fics in the Blue Exorcist world, so I decided to make one! I'll attach the form at the end of this chapter. Just fill it out! This takes place in the anime world, five years after it ends, seeing as the manga didn't end yet.**

Yukio looked at his brother in frustration. Never had he had such an irresponsible, reckless, possibly destructive idea. To try and rein in his annoyance, he pinched the bridge of his nose, something he'd been doing a lot for the past five years.

"Come on, Yukio, you know it's a good idea!" Rin protested still innocent and naïve as ever.

True, the idea had potential, most of their cram school class had taken up teaching, excluding Takara. It was a miracle he even _graduated_. Izumo had begun to teach summoning with Shiemi, who also taught with him in classes such as Anti-Demon Pharmaceuticals. Suguro began teaching Passage Memorization class, along with Shima and Konekomaru when they could make it. Perhaps the idea of the class _itself _wasn't all that bad, it was just that they were the ones teaching it.

Rin decided that as a sort of side class, he'd be looking out for half-demons and teaching them to harness and control their powers in order to become exorcists. After they met some of the part-demon exorcists, the insane idea got into his head, and it stuck.

Yukio decided to cave in, just this once. "Fine. But don't destroy the city, okay?"

Rin's face brightened up. "Okay!"

He smiled. He saw his brother a lot, but they didn't live together anymore. A couple years ago, Rin and Shiemi got their own apartment, and Yukio knew that his brother was seriously considering proposing to her.

There was a knock on the classroom door before Rin answered it. Standing in the doorway was a girl, about sixteen, with black hair that reached her chest and dark brown eyes, as well as pointed ears and a tail tipped with a red tuft. "Are you the one I spoke to earlier?" she asked Rin.

"Yes. I never did get your name, though." He placed a hand on her back and guided her into the classroom.

"Ieyoshi Mayako," she said.

**Okay, here's the form:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Demon Parent:**

**Backstory:**

**Personality:**

**Powers:**

**Human Family:**

**Clothes:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Power Weaknesses:**

_**Example:**_

**Name: Ieyoshi (last) Mayako (first)**

**Age: 16**

**Demon Parent: Iblis (demon king of fire)**

**Backstory: Had a normal life until her powers awakened a couple months before and burned down her home, her mother and brothers with it**

**Powers: Fire manipulation and creation, healing factor**

**Human family: Misao Ieyoshi (mother deceased), Soshitsu Ieyoshi (brother, younger, age 10, deceased), Kinmochi Ieyoshi (brother, younger, age 10, deceased)**

**Clothes: Simple as possible, nothing flashy. Doesn't attend the school so usually only wears baggy jeans and too-big dark colored t-shirts**

**Likes: fire, younger kids (remind her of her brothers), swords, history, warm weather**

**Dislikes: water, ice, cold weather, people who think they're better than everyone else, familiars**

**Power Weaknesses: water, ice, and Satan's blue flames (they don't burn her lethally, but they'll still injure her), healing factor only works if in a room that's 70 degrees Fahrenheit or more because she draws power from heat**


	2. New Kids

**A/N: Thanks for so many submissions so soon and for the reviews concerning the idea! Also, as I forgot to mention this in the first chapter: only one child of Satan OC is allowed. I'm sorry, but I don't want a horde of overly-powerful Satan kids running around because he usually killed his hosts. Only about one in a billion could survive hosting Satan for that long. As for multiple OC children of other major demons, I am perfectly okay with that. Also, if you could review/PM me appearances (if you didn't already) or weapons (if they use them) that would be great! I also accept anonymous OCs and multiple OC's. And I put a "Power Weakness" section for a reason. I will not, I repeat, WILL NOT, accept any Mary Sues/ Gary Stus. Not that this happened, I'm pleased with the submissions, but just as a warning. SUBMISSIONS ARE STILL OPEN! ****Even though some boys would be nice.**

A couple of days passed since Rin met Mayako in person and began training. In two days, Rin learned a lot about her: she was the daughter of Iblis, the demon king of fire, and as such she inherited his powers. She was a normal human until about two months ago when her demon side awakened violently. She didn't live in the gray area, and she was passionate about everything.

Upon learning of her abilities, Rin started training her like Shura did: three candles, light the two on the outsides simultaneously. She was afraid of her flames. Hated them, even. She almost destroyed the classroom more than once, and at the moment was practicing again when the doors swung open, startling her. Bright orange flames flew towards the newcomers before she stopped them with every ounce of her will.

Rin stood up and greeted the new students: three girls, one wearing a purple sweater dress, one looking vaguely like him, and one tall and slim, as well as a boy taller than the last girl, followed by Yukio and Shura. Most people frowned upon their relationship due to their age gap, but Yukio acted like he was a decade older than he actually was, and who was he to keep his brother from being happy?

His twin cleared his throat, presenting the new students. "Nii-san, Mayako-chan, these are the new students. Fujiwara Maki," he pointed to the one who resembled Rin, "Tsukino Hotomi," he pointed to the one in the purple, who Maya (she asked Rin to call her that) glared at as her dark brown became a deep red and amber, "Ryuujin Emiko" he gestured to the tall girl, "and Onryo Huyu." He finished at the boy.

Rin nodded to them and responded in kind to the students. "I'm Rin Okumura and this," he pointed to Maya, who had stood up, "is Ieyoshi Mayako. She is the daughter of Iblis, so she can create and control fire."

"Right. I can control it _real_ well," she snapped sarcastically.

Hotomi spoke first. "Aah, my parent is Yukikane, the ice demon, so I can control ice and make weapons out of it." This earned another glare from Maya.

Emiko stood straight and said, "My demon parent is Belial the dragon demon. My abilities are that I can harness elements, heal injuries, fly, defend against most mortal weapons, and summon a lot of familiars, but my favorite is Orochi, which is a eight-headed dragon." She seemed rather grudging to be here, Rin thought. Didn't she like killing demons?

Huyu spoke up. "My demon parent is Azazel, so I can summon spirits, survive most things that'll kill me, heal, communicate with and pass into the spirit realm, and summoning my spiritual hound familiar."

"Cool," Maya said quietly.

Looking to Maki, Rin asked, "What do you do?"

"I can read opponent's movement, summon familiars like my wolf, and I… have blue flames because I'm the daughter of Satan."

**Okay, that's it for this chapter! I hope I get more submissions! And thank you, those who submitted!**


	3. A Normal(?) Day

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! I swear, time hates me. Band practice from 3 to 5, school from 10 to 2, on top of writing my comic book.**

Yukio noted his class. Though Rin was technically in charge, he did most of the work. Right now, things didn't look good. Mayako kept everyone at arm's length with threats to burn them alive. Her powers were uncontrolled and the people who sat close to her too long had burns from the amber-eyed girl. Maki was like Rin—too energetic, too unfocused. She had some control over her abilities, but everyone was afraid of the blue flames of Satan. No one knew much about Hotomi, she was so quiet. However, her abilities were at her mercy. There wasn't much work to be done with her. Next he thought of Emiko. She and Mayako fought over most anything, much like Suguro and Rin at that age—two fiery personalities that clashed violently, and it was a toss-up to who won. Her abilities were also untrained, leaving Yukio worried for his students. Then there was the opposite side of the spectrum. The son of Azazel had formed a rocky friend ship of sorts with some of his classmates, but he was usually calm. There was no way they could create any sort of team with them. Their personalities clashed, and sparks flew, literally, on multiple occasions.

XXXXX

Huyu had taken to sitting in the back with Maya-chan. He had a feeling that he made her nervous, but he wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't that she was afraid of him for being able to see and summon spirits. She was even curious about it. A small paper airplane settled on his desk. Unfolding it, he saw messily scrawled out, _Huyu-kun? Do you think you could keep an eye out for a couple of spirits for me? They're twins named Sushitu and Kenmochi. _Looking over, he nodded, catching sight of the three large burns that marred her right arm. The air seemed to become a little warmer until a little bit of icy air cooled it down coming from Hotomi._ It sounds like the start of a bad joke, _he thought,_ a fire demon and an ice demon start going to the same class_.

XXXXX

Emiko glared at the chalkboard in disgust. Why would someone, especially those in the 'monster class', as she began calling it, want to kill demons? It was hypocritical, she thought. Rin had insisted that demons are mindless monsters. What did that make them?

"Ryuujin-chan," Rin called. "Is something bothering you?" he cast her a warning glance, as if to say 'Don't even _think_ about picking another fight.'

"No," she said simply, "I'm perfectly fine."

XXXXX

Rin considered the day something of a success so far. No one needed medical attention, and no one got in any fights. He looked at the clock. They were only halfway through the day. When no injuries by dinner were a success, things were bad. Just then, his phone rang, the caller ID showing Mephisto. He picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello!" replied the ever-jovial voice of the headmaster. "I have some new students for you! I'll drop them by after lunch, okay?"

He wanted to say no, that he already had enough trouble from the five they had, but he knew better than to actually say that. "Alright."

"Wonderful! See you then!" The headmaster hung up, leaving Rin wondering what, exactly, he had gotten himself into.

XXXXX

True to his word, for once, Mephisto appeared with five new students: three boys and two girls. The first of the girls had extremely long, dark hair and violet eyes, wearing a neutral expression, and of all things, a Victorian-style dress. The other had long brown hair with a green cap, with a green eye and a gold one, who appeared shy. The first of the boys looked quite commonplace, with lightly tanned skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes, wearing a Polo shirt and a pair of trousers. Rin noted that Mephisto looked upon the first boy somewhat fondly. The second boy looked eerily like Amaimon, with large eyes and looking bored with everything around him. The biggest difference, Rin thought, was that hair. While Amaimon had all green hair with a spike atop his head, the second boy simply had black hair with green streaks. The last of the boys had black hair, pale skin, and shocking red eyes. He seemed to be figuring out the easiest way to take you down while still making his poetry reading.

"These are the new students. I'll leave it to them to introduce themselves to you." With a flash of his signature grin and a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.

The girl in the dress spoke first. "My name is Elody Satou, and I'm the daughter of a demon who served under Iblis." Rin noticed Maya shift in her seat uncomfortably. She took a seat in the front of the room.

The girl with brown hair and a green cap introduced herself next. "I-I'm Cassidy Haley, and I'm the daughter of a wolf demon. I have advanced hearing and smell, and I'm faster and stronger than normal humans." She hastily sat in the second row back, since the front was filled up.

The boy who looked—dare he say it?—normal with a cautious expression said, "My name is Tsurai Akashi. I'm the son of Mephisto and I have some control over fire and time." He took a seat in the second to last row. _So that's why Mephisto looked at him so fondly,_ he thought.

The one who looked like Amaimon introduced himself. "I'm Isamu Daichi and I'm the son of Amaimon. I can control the earth, too." With that, he took a seat in the back row, by Hotomi, and started playing with his fingernails in the manner that reminded Rin of his father.

Red eyes seemed to meet ten pairs of eyes simultaneously as the last one spoke. "My name is Katio Tsuksuma. My father is Agramon, the demon king of fear. I can craft and control shadows, sense your fears and make them come to life, and teleport." He spoke with a calm confidence that made them all shiver. He sat beside Huyu in the back, nodding to him, and cast a glance at Mayako, whose eyes widened as though she were seeing a ghost.

Oh yeah, this wonderful idea of his was working _great._

Kamiki-sensei walked in to the classroom. Today, apparently, everybody was going to see if they had the talent to summon demons as familiars. Maki volunteered first.

"Let the wolf in the fiery dephs of the Pit come to serve its master," she muttered, pricking her finger with a needle. Sure enough, a wolf covered in blue flames emerged, bowing to her.

Huyu had volunteered next. Taking another needle, he muttered, "Hound of Azazel, come to me." A ghostly hound appeared before them.

After that, Emiko summoned an eight-headed dragon, Daichi summoned a large snake, and Katio summoned a small healing familiar.

Mayako felt nervous. She had never even _attempted _this kind of thing before, and aside from that, thought the whole idea was hypocritical. But all the same, she felt the words coming to her. Pricking her finger, she whispered, "For let the serpent who unleashed sin upon the world come to its master's heir." A large cobra slithered into existence, scales ever-changing like fire and eyes like burning coals. _You sssummoned me, Lady?_ It asked. _Massster will be pleased to ssee that hisss daughter is in good health._ Mayako ripped the paper as Kamiki-sensei instructed, silently vowing never to summon it.

XXXXX

In Maki's opinion, the day went well. No fights for once and she had kept a tight enough lid on her emotions so none of her _father's _ flames could escape. Training on control was going well, and unlike a certain daughter of Iblis, she didn't light half the room on fire when she used her flames. The girls and boys lived on different sides of an old boys' dormitory. Laying down for bed, she could only hope this relative calm could last.

**A/N: okay, sorry it took so long to update! Submissions are still open! Please review!**

'**the Pit' is a Biblical term for Hell.**

**In Christianity and Judaism, a snake tempted Eve with a fruit, bringing sin into the world. **


	4. The American Devil Joins the Class

**A/N: Okay, this time I only managed to add one OC, because I wanted to add some interaction between students. So, I added Ron Ferus by wahs96's fic 'Fear and Loathing at True Cross Acadamy', which is an amazing read and after reading this chapter, you should read it. I'm not kidding. Read it. **

Mayako roared in anger as the space around her was lit on fire. "One candle! One goddamn fucking candle! Is that too much to fucking ask!" she yelled.

"Oi, Maya, don't worry about it," Rin said over his manga, an old shounen called _Rurouni Kenshin._

"Don't worry about it?!" she practically yelled, concentrating hard to make the fire go out. "One week, Rin-sensei. One week and how much progress? None. Nada. Zilch." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not like you. I'm not going to get anything resembling control in a matter of months. You never really _hurt_ another human with your flames."

Rin looked up. He knew the outline of what happened: her powers awakened suddenly and she accidentally burned down her house. But he didn't really know the details, like why she said there was nowhere else for her to go. "What really happened? A couple months ago?"

She sighed. "Long story short? The government thinks I'm dead and I no longer have brothers or a mom. Do your research on my name if you wanna find out more," she said before returning her attention to the candles, which he determined were becoming the bane of her existence.

XXXXX

Maki sighed as she got up. It was time for her lesson with her big brother. She actually kind of liked the lesson; it was really useful; it was just the state that the place was _in_ when she came up.

Looking at the state of the training room as she entered, that it would not be a good lesson. Half the room, as per usual, was scorched, and Rin was sweeping up ashes. Taking off her bag where she kept her candles, she sat in the middle of the room. "Rough lesson?" she asked.

He nodded. "She doesn't get the concept of _little flames_." He grinned. "So how's my favorite _imoto_ (1)?"

"Okay. You make me get up waaay too early, though."

"You're just lucky you don't go here for regular school. I can't count the times Yukio had to physically drag me out of bed." He paused. "Enough of that; on to training. I was thinking of advancing you."

"What do you mean?"

He took out another two candles. "I want you to light the first, third, and fifth candles simultaneously."

She nodded, smiling. "Okay!" she said. Focusing, she lit the second and third candles on fire, and not just the wicks.

"Okay, let's try that—"

Rin was cut off by a familiar lazy drawl. "Wrong candles, Blue Girl. Yer supposed to light the first, third, and fifth candles. Jesus, yer as bad as your brother." Shura stood in her usual scantily clothed uniform, staring blankly at her.

This was going to be worse than usual.

XXXXX

Hotomi walked in to the training room for the lesson, which she didn't really need, but of course, it would really be rude and arrogant to say that. She spared no words as she created her bow and quiver of arrows, as well as a few sets of _kunai_. Heading to a target, she took the bow first.

"Hey, Hotomi," Rin called her cheerfully.

She simply nodded. Rin always tried to get her to talk, to be somewhat sociable. Pouting, he continued. "So, which weapon do you want to work with today?"

"The bow," she responded, without saying anything else. She picked up the bow and destroyed the _kunai_s. Just as she was ready to fire the first arrow, she was stopped.

"What do yer think yer doin'?" asked a bored voice behind her. "Do yer really think that the demons are gonna stay still?" Turning around, she saw Shura-sensei. She shook her head. Guiding the younger girl to a cage that looked like a Western batting cage, she set the mode on 'easy'. "Let's see yer work with that," she said.

The first ball hit her in the arm, already purpling. When the next ball came, however, an arrow hit the ball dead center. She found herself unable to pay attention to anything aside from the projectiles heading towards her. She was able to hit five with the bow before another hit her in the gut. While she was recovering from this, another hit her in the knee, causing her to fall. There was another heading straight for her head…

"Beginner's mode stop!" shouted the woman, as she wacked the ball away with a bokken (2).

Shaking her head, she said, "Pay more attention." Leaving her there to recover.

XXXXX

Normal school ended, leaving cram school to begin. A group of human cram school students came by Huyu, Emiko, and Cassidy. Emiko heard the jeers from meters away.

"Hey! Look, it's the freak class!" The obvious leader, a black haired boy with a lot of piercings, pointed out.

"Half-breed freaks!"

"So tell me, how much did your fathers have to pay your mothers? We all knew they were whores!" Her mother, a whore?! That was going too far! Her mother died giving birth to her.

"Hey! Maybe we could make them our familiars!"

"Or, maybe we should just slaughter them in the manner of their kind."

Even Huyu's jaw tightened. Huyu, who was usually the pacifist, the one to stop the fights, was being provoked.

"I'm going to kill them," she said through clenched teeth, finger already pricked.

"I'm not sure I'm going to stop you this time," he admitted. "But maybe you shouldn't do any summoning. I'm sure that your vengeance would be much more satisfying by your own hands."

She nodded, running towards them, fist ready to make contact.

XXXXX

Elody noticed the absence of the three students first. When she didn't hear screaming between Emiko and… Mayako, there was something wrong. Looking at Mayako, she could tell she only really noticed Huyu's absence, not really caring about the lack of the other two's presence. She seemed caught up in her own personal nightmare, as usual.

Finally, Cassidy, Emiko, and Huyu entered, a boy with close-cropped brown hair and bright green eyes in tow.

"Alright, human, 'fess up. What were you doing following us like that?" Emiko demanded, pinning him to the wall.

Before the boy could answer, Shura interrupted them. "Ron! What do yer think yer doing here?"

When he didn't answer, Emiko answered for him. "This… _human_ was following us on the way to class. We caught him after a… encounter with the normal cram school students."

When the woman raised an eyebrow, Ron exhaled. "The cram school students made a point that I wasn't welcome there anymore. It was just a freak occurrence," he grumbled. Looking at Shura levelly, he continued. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Tell yer what?"

"That I was a half-breed freak, that I shouldn't even _exist_." He got angrier. "And that there was all this shit going on behind my back. And that you and my dad were part of that shit. How could you just let me live like that?"

"That was the way yer dad wanted yer raised. Not me." Looking at the rest of the class, and back at Ron, she said, "We'll talk about this later."

XXXXX

Ron looked at the rest of the class. He smelled a lot of fear: distrust, fear of themselves, fear of what they can do, and guilt. He took a seat in front of a black-haired girl with amber eyes as class began. The air heated up as she hissed, "Not a good idea, man." Ignoring her, he watched as Rin walked in, sporting his sword and a large duffel bag.

"So, a lot of you want to be exorcists. The thing is, that you just can't kill demons with your powers. For example, I have Kurikara."

He heard the girl named Emiko say, "This is ridiculous, us being exorcists. I refuse to kill my own kind. We're demons. Why should we fight for people who are nothing like us and hate us?"

"You forget that we're _half_-demons. Not completely. And you also forget what that other half is. We're still human, and I'm going to defend my own kind." This came from the amber-eyed girl behind him.

"Defend those who _hate _and fear you? Who think you're nothing more than urban legend or a circus freak, the daughter of a whore? You seem to ignore that we're half-demon. You want to live like them. You want to be one of them."

"So what if I do? And I don't condemn humans just for being humans. You group them all together."

"I guess we have to remember who you are after all. You _are_ part foreigner. You want to erase all that is ugly about your past, about your kind. I wouldn't expect less from your kind," Emiko sneered. "I suppose that your mother _was_ a common whore, to marry a foreigner."

This sent the girl with amber eyes over the edge. She got up from her seat quickly and attacked Emiko viciously, knocking her down. The other girl responded in kind, elbowing her face. The girl who sat behind him not a minute before punched Emiko in the gut, followed by a swift kick. Emiko summoned fire out of nowhere, sending a jet of it at the girl attacking her. The amber-eyed girl stopped the fire through sheer force of will, sending a wall of fire at her. Ron could feel the heat from the back of the room. It was no normal fire. The boy in the second to last row with him snapped his fingers, stopping the two fighting girls.

Yukio and Rin pulled the two apart before he resumed time.

"I can't believe you two!" yelled Rin. "Every day, you're at each other's throats. Why can't you two at least _appreciate _each other's ideologies? Mayako, you're going to go through more training after class today for that little stunt." He reprimanded the first girl, whose amber eyes seemed to turn crimson on the outside. "The same goes for you, Emiko. Actually, you get double training after that fight with the human students earlier and for starting it this time." Blue flames seemed to emerge on the teacher's skin.

Well, this was an amazing idea, to start attending cram school, especially now that he was with the demon class.

A boy in the back row with red eyes seemed to chuckle at his thought.

1: _imoto_- little sister

2: _bokken_- wodden sword

**A/N: Yeah, semi-quick update! Well, after next week, you won't see any updates for a week because I'm going on vacation after my sister's wedding. Submissions are still open!**


	5. Two Classes

**A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait -_- writer's block considering the story. Oh, and aside from the ones that have already been submitted, OC submissions are closed. Sorry. I don't own Ao No Exorcist. Enjoy =)**

* * *

Mayako sighed as yet another new kid decided that they wanted to sit near her. A few days ago, after her and Emiko, once again, almost burned the room, Rin decided that with the growing number of students, and to keep the two from clashing much anymore, that the class would be divided in two. In her class were Huyu, Ron, Daichi, and Akashi. The other class, she figured, consisted of Emiko, Hotomi, Maki, Cassidy, Katio, and Elody.

Turning her attention to the new kid, the first thing she noticed was that the other girl had a sort of… icy presence about her, like with Hotomi. Aside from that, she had brown hair tied back in a side ponytail with a black ribbon. She turned around, showing brown eyes. "Hi. I'm Mayu! What's your name?"

"Mayako. What gives you the idea that it's a good idea to sit near me?"

"Well, why wouldn't it be?" she asked.

"In that case, you don't want to know what happened to my family."

"What happened?"

"I killed them. Burned them alive. If you don't want to end up like them, you will _go away._"

With a squeak, she was gone.

* * *

Ron watched in mild amusement as Mayako, the amber eyed girl who he had seen fighting a few days ago, chased off a newbie who decided it was a good idea to sit near her. The smell of fear was now pungent in the air to him as the new girl decided to find another place to sit.

He returned his attention to the seat in front of him, holding a girl with pink hair. Looking at him, she smiled.

"Hello. My name's Mikada! What's yours?"

Looking into this girl's yellow eyes, he wondered if she was really seventeen, the way she looked. She acted more like a five year old. He sighed. He just _had _to leave his bad habits behind in America, didn't he? "Ron."

"It's nice to meet you!" she said, before pulling a cup of ramen out of her sleeve. Where did she get that from, anyway?

* * *

Daichi looked on boredly at the new boy sitting in front of him. As if this class wasn't boring enough already, they had to bring in three new kids, one of which who was sitting in front of him. The guy came off as a total snob, not really taking the time to acknowledge him. _Whatever, _he thought, before biting his fingernails.

Rin walked up to the front of the class. "Okay, lately you've been working on controlling your abilities. Today, we're going to see how much improvement you've made. But first, let's introduce our new students."

A girl who had taken to sitting as far away from Fire Girl as possible stood up. "My name's Kusaka Mayu, and I'm the daughter of a demoness. I can control some ice." She sat down again.

A second girl, one with pink hair and yellow eyes, stood up. "I'm Mikada Hishirou, daughter of Beelzebub, demon king of bugs. I can control gravity and bugs."

The new student in front of him heaved a sigh as he stood up. "Well, I'm Ryuu, the son of a succubus. I can affect emotions, have some control over water, and I can kinda time travel." He said before sitting down. This rich snob was really getting on his nerves.

* * *

Mayu looked around the new classroom with a sense of wonder. Her entire life, she'd felt like a freak, different from everyone else, whether in Assiah or Gehennah, but here, there were other people like her. Other people who weren't human, but not completely demon either, who wanted to use their abilities to help people. Around the class, there was the scary girl who killed her family in the back, a tall boy sitting beside her with white hair and amber eyes, who was really calm-looking, a bored-looking boy with black and green hair, a normal-looking boy who she doubted was a demon at all, a foreign boy with bright green eyes, a friendly-looking girl with pink hair and yellow eyes, and a snobbish-looking boy, who was admittedly pretty appealing.

The teacher, a tall man with bluish hair about twenty years old, walked into the room. From her time in Gehennah, she knew him on sight because of his reputation: he had seriously injured Satan, his father, five years ago with his twin. He was Rin Okumura, son of Satan and Prince of Gehennah. His reputation had preceded him. However, she was expecting a fearsome warrior, clothed in blue flame and wielding his sword; here, he was a young man, barely out of his teens, and looked like the kind of person anyone would like as a brother: carefree and happy. "Okay, people, today you're going to be showing your improvement on your powers," he said, after he had finished with introductions. "Daichi," he said, signaling the black- and green-haired boy to stand up and demonstrate.

With a martyred sigh, he stood up and walked to the front of the room. For a brief moment, something other than boredom crossed his face—concentration, maybe?—and two small pillars shot from the ground before separating and forming something looking suspiciously like a hand giving the finger, before the pillars reformed and returned to the ground. Okumura-sensei obviously didn't appreciate the gesture, as he sentenced him to extra training.

Next, he called for the foreign boy, who he called 'Ron'. Focus crossed his features briefly as well, before she felt her worst fears come to life—the people around her, even in this class, ridiculing her and persecuting her, being drowned in holy water, being burned alive like the scary girl had done to her family—she felt all of it at once, before it just… stopped. Looking around, she saw that everyone had undergone what she had. She shook her head, trying to forget it all.

The next person ordered to 'demonstrate' was the white-haired boy named 'Huyu'. Producing a scalpel, he sliced his palm and chanted something so lowly and quickly she couldn't make out. Two semi-transparent, almost blue figures emerged, shaped like humans. After about thirty seconds, the figures disintegrated.

After that, Rin called on the one who was normal-looking. Picking up a knife, he threw it to the front of the room. Concentrating, the knife stopped in midair, he walked to where the knife was, and plucked it out of the air.

Finally, he called out the scary one. Standing up, she concentrated hard, and half the room erupted into flames. She let out a string of curses, before walking out of the room.

Concluding, Okumura-sensei said, "All of the ones who have been taking lessons have come a long way. New ones, once class is over, I'll tell you when your private lessons will be to help control your abilities."

* * *

The first thing Emiko noticed walking onto the classroom were the singed desks and chairs. Apparently a certain fire demon had lost her temper again. The second thing she noticed was the three unfamiliar people in the classroom. Taking a seat that was further away from the others, she looked at the three new students—the first, a girl, was really relaxed, wearing a boys' uniform, the second, who was a boy, was wearing baggy clothes and had a scythe with him, and the third was a small girl in a punk outfit with black-tinged red hair. The girl vaguely reminded Emiko of Daichi. Perhaps it was the same bored air that followed her.

The elder Okumura entered, bringing everybody to attention. "Sorry about the… ahem… appearance of the classroom. We had a little… incident with one of the members of our last class. She's a bit of a hothead." The older members of a class laughed a little, knowing full well who the 'hothead' was.

He continued. "I guess a lot of you have noticed the new kids in class today. Will you introduce yourselves?"

The girl in the boys' uniform stood up. "Well… my name's Saeko Okami. I'm the daughter of a wolf demon god. I can summon a white wolf familiar and I have wolf senses." She hastily took a random seat near the back.

The boy stood up, hands in his pockets. "I'm Tsukino. I'm the son of Egyn, the demon king of water, so obviously I can control water."

The last of the three stood up. "The name's Kitkat Vitani. I'm the daughter of Amaimon, and I can talk to plants." Apparently thinking that what she said sounded wrong, she added, "Don't worry; I'm not crazy. Although I did spend some time in the nut house." Well, that explained the similarities to Daichi.

Clearing his throat, Okumura-sensei started. "What we're going to go over today is something all demons should know—how to keep your demon heart and tail hidden. Now, my demon heart is in my sword, Kurikara, which was a reckless move on the part of the one who placed it there, because it's out in the open. What I'm going to do today, at least, is teach you to hide your tails. Something else you should know is that your tail is one of your weak points, and as I am speaking directly from experience, I can tell you that it is incredibly painful if someone were to touch your tail. A quick fix for this is wrapping it around your torso, and putting your shirt on over it. Next week I'll have Mephisto create seals that will hide your tail in Gehenna, only emerging when you summon your demon side."

The class droned on as Okumura-sensei spoke about sealing your demon heart somewhere that you would keep it with you, but where no one would guess to attack.

As class ended, he pulled Emiko aside. "Emiko," he began.

"Yeah?"

"It's come to my attention that you've been one of the ones who's been having trouble with controlling your abilities."

Before she could protest that she was getting better at keeping a lid on her temper and controlling her powers, he stopped her. "There's nothing really wrong with this. Believe me, I was a slow learner, too. Just try to focus more, maybe start meditating. It did wonders for me. And try not to pick fights anymore. You recognize that you're not human, and that's great. But those who cling to their humanity—try not to be too cruel to them. They had their humanity ripped away from them suddenly. Just try to remember that, okay?" she nodded. "And remember that you have a lesson tomorrow morning."


	6. The Teacher from Hell

**A/N: Two updates in one week! I'm so proud of myself! =D! I don't own Blue Exorcist or any of the OC's aside from Mayako. I also decided to make Shura that teacher that pushes kids too hard so they all hate her. You know that kind of teacher, don't you?**

Maya-chan wasn't in class the next day, Huyu noticed. Okumura-sensei said that she was unwell, which very well could be true, but it was her mentality he was concerned for. Like most of the other students, she was a mystery. The only thing he'd really known about her was that she'd killed her own family. True, that was enough if you wanted to start rumors about her, but not much if you were looking for what really happened.

He returned his attention to the lecture during _Seals and Circles _class. Kirigakure-sensei was showing seals that could be put on possessed objects. "There is no one-size-fits-all seal. I'll tell yer that right now. Yer could use general animal seals, or general ground seals, but that's it. Yer can't use an animal seal on, say, a huge lantern that's possessed. Why? There are different classes of demons, and what hurts one class won't necessarily work on another. Hey you," she pointed out the pink haired girl who arrived yesterday. "No eating in my class." She snatched the cup of ramen noodles away from her before continuing.

Looking around, he saw Daichi carve patterns into his desk with his black talon-like fingernails, Akashi lean back, as if the action in the lecture or the teacher's actions were nothing exciting, and Mayu giggle as Ryuu shrugged indifferently, as he always did. Ron, however, was choking back a laugh as if he knew the teacher and this was to be expected of her.

XXXXX

Hotomi looked down at herself, wishing she had brought workout clothes to True Cross Academy with her. Instead, here she was, wearing Mephisto's _excuse_ for exercise clothes. It looked a lot like the uniform, the white button-down blouse replaced with a tight v-neck t-shirt, and pink shorts replaced the short, pleated skirt. Even the ribbon used to tie back hair resembled the patterns on the ties. Relieved, she saw that Elody, looking distinctly uncomfortable, Maki who appeared to be wishing the same thing Hotomi had, and Cassidy had suffered the same discomfort and embarrassment she was feeling.

She also looked at the obstacle course in front of her, complete with tires, net walls, mud pits covered with barbed wire above them, and something that looked like a set of extremely high, unstable, dangerous monkey bars. _Oh, no, _she thought. There was only one person diabolical enough to make _teenagers _go through this torture.

She heard a whistle and saw Shura-sensei call all the students to attention. "Now, kids, yer should know by now that being an Exorcist ain't just knowing your stuff. Exorcists have to be at peak physical condition at all times, and for yer guys it isn't any different. This," she said, motioning to the obstacle course, "is an obstacle course used for the American Army. Yer gonna be expected to run through it _without using any powers_. Do I make myself clear?" the class nodded. "Do I make myself _clear?" _She asked again, only louder.

"Yes!" the entire class responded.

"Then get yer lily livers in gear!"

XXXXX

Today was _not _Elody's day. It really wasn't. She much preferred the petticoats, dresses, and even the _corsets_ of her youth to these… revealing, uncomfortable _scraps _of clothing she was being forced to wear. If Ryu could see her now, he'd think her a woman of loose morals, a harlot even.

Even so she wasn't at the peak of human conditioning, which Shura had required, far from it. Miss Ryuujin was far ahead of the group, black hair flying behind her.

Climbing up a net wall, she heard a voice under her. "I've known turtles that go faster than you, yer know that?" Looking down, she saw the voice belonged to Miss Kirigakure.

She felt beads of sweat form on her as she struggled up the wall. The rope was chafing her hands which were becoming slick with perspiration, which was making it making more difficult. And she was only halfway up!

"Yes, Miss Kirigakure. I apologize," she said between labored breaths.

She didn't really expect this. At all. One moment, she was making slow but steady progress. The next, she was falling, heart seemingly falling into the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she was still able to think during the fall. Was three meters enough to kill her? She felt a pair of arms snatch her out of the air before putting her down, steadying her on her feet. "Go back to the locker rooms. Yer done for today."

She couldn't keep the feeling of shame and disappointment at bay.

XXXXX

Maki was somewhat disappointed in herself. Usually, she would be the first done in anything related to physical activity. Rather, after seeing Elody fall, she took far much more care than she usually would, slowing her. That, and Emiko was ridiculously fast. Emiko, despite finishing the course with only Maki as real competition, still looked calm, not so much as breathing heavily. _How does she do it?_

Kirigakure-sensei had rewarded Emiko by allowing her to skip training tomorrow morning. Training sessions seemed to be the punishment-reward system in the demon class. If a student misbehaved, they would be subject to multiple training sessions a day. If a student got the highest grade on a test, or finished an exercise first, they would be relieved of the obligation. This was with good reason. One-on-one training sessions were brutal at best, life-threatening at worst, even more so when Kirigakure-sensei was involved. She remembered coming back from one session burned from all the candles she had to light. She didn't even _know _it was possible to be burned from the heat coming off of her flames.

On her way into the showers, she bumped into Cassidy. "This was one hell of a day," the latter stated bluntly.

"Tell me about it. I'd prefer one-on-one training with Shura-sensei."

She grimaced a bit. "I wouldn't go _that_ far," she warned.

"You're right." Perking up a bit, she said, "How come everyone hates you? We're all half demons here."

Over the past few days, they'd formed an odd friendship of sorts that consisted mainly of passing notes in class. They rarely had the chance to talk.

She sighed. "It's not that I'm half-demon. It's who my jerkass excuse for a father is."

"Who is it?"

"Satan. He knocks up my mom, then tries possessing me when I'm a freaking seven-year-old kid, then kills my mom. In that order. Not to mention the Blue Night 20 years ago."

"Well, that's pretty stupid." Maki looked at the other girl in surprise. "I mean, _you _didn't do that; your dad did. So what, he's the root of all evil. You aren't him. Believe me when I say that blood doesn't always mean similarities—or love."

"Cassidy?" The other girl looked up. "Thank you."

She smiled. "Don't mention it."

**A/N: So I decided to establish a friendship. I mean, they can't **_**all **_**hate each other. Also, no more oc's please. **

**But feel free to review and tell me how I did!**


	7. Like Father, Like Daughter

**A/N: Hey guys! How you doin'? Here's a new (filler) chapter, with relationships establishing, foreboding, families reuniting, a demon king, and to top it all off, some scheming courtesy of our very own Samael aka Mephisto Pheles! Read on! (Warning: writers block so it's pretty much Mayako-based)**

Mayako stood outside Mephisto's door. When she woke up this morning, she received instruction from him to report to this office, though there was no class. She remembered something her stepfather used to say: _Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars._ She never understood the saying, but somehow this time it fit.

She knocked, and when she heard a cordial 'come in' from the other side, she entered the principal's office, slightly worried.

Standing in the room was the headmaster in his usual gaudy getup, standing by another man—he was tall, lean, in his twenties, with bright red hair, eyes the same color as her own, and tattoos in the shapes of flames covering his arms, wearing a t-shirt advertising a comic book she remembered—Ghost Rider, and baggy jeans. Aside from the eyes, the man was as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. It was her father, who was, at the time of her birth, Iblis' host. Her eyes widened. How was this possible?

His eyes widened as well, before looking to the headmaster. "Samael," he growled, "What cruel trickery is this?"

Returning her gaze to Mephisto, she said, "I agree. My father died ten years ago."

The gaudily dressed demon king merely grinned. "Goodness brother, Mayako-chan, can I not do a good deed? I am merely reuniting father and daughter."

His eyes blazed as he very nearly yelled, "Don't lie to me! She died two months ago in that fire! I was at her _funeral_!"

Turning her eyes to her father, she venomously said, "And _I _was at _yours_. How could you leave Mother and me with Soshitu and Kenmochi? They were _infants!_"

Flames sparked around her father, _Iblis_, she realized, _not just his host._ Her father's flames ignited her own, but she knew, she could tell, that her father's flames were infinitely more powerful than her own, bloody red like her own, but with greens and yellows and every other color flashing through them. "You would be wise to hold your tongue, girl. You know not the pain that leaving them put me through. And you dare to pass yourself off as my daughter? I shall show you not to attempt such folly."

She couldn't hold it back anymore. Her father, after ten years, had forgotten what his own _daughter_ looked like? And then says that he missed them? "No! I won't hold my tongue! You _abandoned _us, letting us think you were dead! And then we watched them grow up, and every day, they looked more and more like you! You're not the one who went through pain."

Looking at her, examining her more closely, Iblis subsided. "Maya?" she nodded. "H-how?"

"They didn't find my body, did they?" she laughed bitterly, orange eyes shining.

"What about the fire?"

She exhaled, closing her eyes. "I was arguing with Mother. I got in a fight at school with one of the 'tough boys'. Broke his nose and left arm. It wasn't my first fight, but it was the one that injured another student seriously. I never did well in class, anyway. I was expelled. She waited to put my brothers to bed first. Then she started yelling at me, saying I was a rash hothead, just like… just like you. That was it. I started yelling back and there was red all around me… It didn't hit me 'til I heard her screaming in pain. I ran to the room Kenmochi and Soshitu shared, but it was too late. Your fire travels fast. The room was already blazing, no way out, and they died right in front of me. But somehow it didn't touch me." She held out her arm, the three burns marring it. "I did this to show what the cost of finding out who I was is. And so I never forget them."

Iblis walked to his daughter and awkwardly embraced her. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you. Your flames were supposed to emerge around your sixteenth birthday. It was any day. But," he looked down at her, "there's a reason fire demons are barely trusted more than Samael. We, unlike most elemental demons, represent the element we take after. Fire never stays in the same position for more than perhaps a second. It's as likely to bite you as it is to burn low. One can only hope to appease it. It knows no allegiance, knows no boundaries, and knows no mercy. We are as likely to side with demons as we are to side with humans. Here," he pulled away and wrapped a hand around her wrists. She was dully aware of a stinging where he placed his hands. When he removed them, she saw an intricate flame pattern around each wrist, a bloody red with other colors in it. "Try your flames now," he said gently.

Opening her hand, concentrating on the way fire usually felt to her. In her palm there was a tiny blood red flame. "You'll have to practice, of course. I just put a seal on your flames so you couldn't set a room on fire every time they escape."

She smiled as he hugged her again. This time it wasn't awkward. "Thank you so much, father."

XXXXX

Akashi lay back on his dorm room. Today, thankfully, there was no class, no Rin blathering about what he himself already knew, no Shura drilling him in torturous exercises that left him sweaty and out of breath at best, and half-conscious and ready to collapse at worst, and not watching, and taking note of every person in his class with carefully trained senses, watching to see a hint of abilities out of line or control… and with a certain fire demon, that was a handful.

As the son of the Demon King of trickery and magic, Samael, better known as Mephisto Pheles or Johann Faust, Akashi was privy to almost, if not all, of his father's numerous schemes and plots. As a rite of passage of sorts, his father was giving him a major position in his latest scheme.

The plan, or at least what he was aware of, was relatively simple. Train a number of about fifteen young demon-human hybrids into an elite corps of exorcists. A corps so powerful and perfectly trained that together, they could ultimately, along with the weapons Rin and Yukio Okumura, topple Gehennah. He knew that today his father was having a meeting with his brother, the demon king Iblis who knew no true allegiance, who could only be temporarily bribed or appeased. However, even one demon king, especially the third in the hierarchy, would certainly topple the scales in their favor. His job was to watch the students and document their progress. And from what he could see, there was a lot of work to do, even with the toughest teacher in the Exorcist world. It could take _years_ before they were ready for a full-blown invasion.

Each student had potential, even as untrained as he was in the ways of trickery and observation, he could see that. The issue was that most of them were hardly controlled, and more importantly, mixed like oil and water: separating the moment they are introduced. Perhaps _other _students would… no. His father had chosen each of these students for a reason. He would not have if he thought they were untrainable. Even so, together they had to defeat seven, perhaps six demon kings, along with Satan himself. Just then a message appeared on his desk.

_Prepare. The first test is coming._

_And Iblis is on board._

**Sorry for the crappy chapter, I just didn't want to make you guys wait too long. So what do you guys think? Do you want Iblis to stay around for training or make occasional cameos? **

**Also, on my profile I have a poll on who your favorite OC (aside from your own) is. The winner will have an entire chapter. **

**Please review! =) **


	8. Redistributing the Freaks

**A/N: Sorry. Another short chapter. I don't own anyone except for Iblis and Mayako. Also, **_**Demon-Princess-Astarte **_**has started her own SYOC and it's really awesome. You should read it.**

Huyu bumped into Ron—literally—on the way to class the next day.

"Watch where you're going you clumsy mother fu—" he cut himself off upon seeing Huyu.

"I'm sorry, Ron… I should have paid more attention," the white-haired boy apologized, dusting himself off. "How come I never see you in the dorms? You just show up for class."

"Yeah," the American replied, "I stay with my legal guardian and her boyfriend, since they live in Tokyo."

Huyu decided to investigate further, since all of the students in 'Demon Class' were a mystery to him. If he was going to have his life in someone else's hands (even though it was a damn near indestructible one), he was going to have to know them. "Cool. Better than the old boys' dorm by a mile, I'd bet. So, what's she like?"

Ron slightly cringed. Huyu feared he picked a delicate subject before he answered, "She's a 'tough love' kinda person. In other words, I come in past curfew, twenty pushups. I get in a fight, fifty pushups. But if I fail a test… _may God have mercy on my soul._ And her boyfriend's okay, I guess. He's nice, even though he _does_ have a pole shoved up his ass, but at least he doesn't stick around for her looks, like the rest of the douches she dates do."

Huyu smiled slightly. His guardian reminded him of someone he knew. "Your guardian sounds a lot like Kirigakure-sensei."

Ron turned back to him. "You have _no idea_. So, how about you? Any family?"

He shook his head. "Mine died in a car crash. Well… technically I did too, but that's how I found out about being half-demon. One minute, my family's car is headed straight for a tree, the next; I'm on a cot with a sheet over my face. Life is weird that way, I guess."

"Or the afterlife."

"Touché," he replied, turning the knob to the classroom.

XXXXX

Walking into class, the first thing Daichi noticed was the man in the front of the class whom he assumed was a new teacher. He looked American, and had green-tinted gray eyes and bright red hair. He looked to be a few years older than his present teacher, but seemingly completely human. How boring. _No, _he thought, as he caught sight of a red-tipped incisor.

The rest of the illusion fell away quickly. Crimson-ringed orange eyes replaced gray-green ones, his ears elongated and formed red tips, and the red fire tattoos that covered his arms seemed more lifelike. Another demon teacher? Not exactly exciting.

The younger Okumura, the one he called 'Glasses', entered behind him. "Good morning class. As you can see, we have a new teacher," he gestured to the redhead, who gave a mock salute. "As my brother only has a few years' experience as a demon, and is only _half_-demon, Sir Pheles ordered in a new assistant teacher—Iblis, the demon king of fire." The new shocked everyone in the room, with the exception of Akashi, who grinned smugly, looking exactly like his father in that moment. Even he was surprised; a _demon king_ assisting _exorcists_? This reeked of some bigger plot. However, perhaps this class wouldn't be so boring after all. With the introductions finished, Glasses exited, leaving behind a demon king.

"Okay, you wimps, let's get some things straight. One: I am not here teaching by choice, my brother tricked me into it, so don't expect me to like you. Two: Just because you are stronger than those whiny-ass humans, do not think that you are ready to take on the world. Three: I will not go easy on you. Four: if I want something done, you do it. Don't talk back to me or I'll make sure you'll regret it. Now as for the training. Now I understand that some of you—namely Pinky, Whitey, Earth clone, Normal, and Maya," he pointed to Mikada, Huyu, Daichi, Akashi, and Mayako in order as he called them by their nicknames, "are the children of the demon kings, me and my brothers. This will raise you to a higher standard. I was sent here mainly to train children of the Demon Kings. You and I are gonna have a _great _time. Now as for the rest of you, give me your names and your powers."

Ron stood up first. "Ron Ferus, son of a fear demon. I can smell fear and take advantage of it, as well as handle most weapons."

"Alright. I see some hope for you. Now you, the one with the brown hair.

"I'm Mayu, the daughter of a demoness. I have some power over ice."

Iblis rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know _which_ demoness, would you?" when she shook her head, he continued. "Great. An ice demon who demon who doesn't know her parent. Alright, Snooty, what about you?" Daichi was at least somewhat grateful that someone shared his opinion of the rich boy.

Ryuu stood up, apparently somewhat affronted about being called snooty to his face. "My name is Ryuu. I'm the son of a succubus. I can affect people's emotions, and have some control over water and time."

"Well, I'm assuming that you don't know which succubus, but since you have control over time, I'd guess it's one under Samael. Well, now that that's over with, let me tell you something. I'll tell the other class this too. We're rearranging the classes—children of Demon Kings and children of other demons. Now, there's a reason why I'm splitting you up. Two things will happen if I train you together—One, the more powerful demons won't be pushed to their limit because they have to hold back because of you. Two, I'll push the less powerful ones too hard, which I have no problem with, but my brother will not be excessively happy if any of you die on me or get too seriously hurt. With that said, come with me my nieces, nephews, and daughter."

Well, class _certainly _wasn't going to be excessively boring anymore.

**A/N: Sorry for another short chapter. I decided to split up the class differently and introduce another teacher. So, what do you guys think of Iblis? Drop a review to let me know! I also have a poll on my profile for who the favorite OC is. I'm begging you, **_**please**_** do NOT vote for your own. And here's a preview for the next chapter!**

The upper class stood in a training room… well, house, really. The training arena was huge, with every specialized piece of equipment that could possibly be used present.

"Well, kids, welcome to the playground. We certainly do not pride ourselves in safety here, so I only really have two rules: don't kill yourselves, and don't kill each other."


	9. Bonding and Babysitting

**A/N: Here's a quick update! Thankfully, it isn't as short and features all of the kids of the Demon Kings. I'll get to the normal ones next chapter. So, read on!**

Tsukino was barely able to move. It was five in the morning, and he had just received a call from the new teacher, Iblis, to meet at the training room of the Tokyo Branch. He saw Emiko, Daichi, Kitkat, Mikada, Mayako, Katio, Akashi, and Huyu with him—children of the eight Demon Kings, all together, and Maki, the daughter of Satan. Casually strolling in was Iblis, with a clipboard and a pen.

So the upper class was in the training room… well, house, really. The training area was huge, with every piece of specialized equipment possible available.

"Well, kids, welcome to the playground. We certainly do not pride ourselves in safety here, so I only really have two rules: don't kill yourselves, and don't kill each other."

If the introduction wasn't foreshadowing, he didn't know what was.

"Now, I will be splitting you up into teams of two. Amaimon's kids, I'm sticking you two together because as siblings, you should get to trust each other. Katio, I'm sticking you with Huyu because Fear and Death go hand in hand. Tsukino, you'll go with Maki, since she needs someone responsible and to put her out if she gets out of control. Mikada, I'm putting you with Akashi, because it'll do you some good to lean strategy. That leaves Emiko and Maya. I've been told that the two of you don't get along very well, and you two should learn to trust each other. Besides, you could teach each other something about humanity and being a demon. Now split up!"

XXXXX

"So… you're my brother…" Kitkat didn't exactly know where to go with this. For one, she never had a brother, and for another thing, she never really got much interaction in the asylum.

Daichi mumbled an affirmative around his lollipop. "I guess you're my sister, then. But you're boring. You would think that someone who's the child of a demon king would be exciting. Can you manipulate the Earth like Father and I?"

"No, but I can talk to and control plants. Can you do that, _nii-san_?" she used the word with a mixture of amusement and disgust.

"Hmm. It sounds somewhat interesting. Perhaps we should start with sparring?" he asked, bemused as he led her to a room that appeared to be a garden.

Kitkat took her stance, making vines grow around her legs and help root her to the ground as briars shot up from the ground. Rocks shot up around Daichi, forming an avatar of sorts around him. The briars grew to form a matching avatar around her. Raising her arm to hit her brother, the spiky plants glanced off the rock armor. _Perhaps a more sturdy plant…_ she thought as a rocky hand ripped her from the ground and held her into the air. "Perhaps you should practice some more, _imouto_," he stated boredly.

XXXXX

Katio looked at Huyu critically. He sensed fears in him, true, but no fear of death or dying or even losing control. Nothing he could take advantage of. At length, he stated, "I doubt anything would come out of sparring each other. I can see your moves coming and nothing can really kill you aside from Satan's flames, and I don't have those. So what do you propose?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps if we could work together against some demons for teamwork. After all, didn't Iblis-sensei say that fear and death work hand in hand? I saw a room filled with demons."

The two boys headed to the room together. As he formed Mesumari, his shadow sword, Huyu summoned a few spirits. "I have a healing familiar if you get hurt."

With that, he cut through the lock of the cage holding three Naberius, about ten Hobgoblins, seven Ghouls. They all ran out, intent on attacking whoever released them, most likely hungry. He took on two of the Naberius while Huyu took on the other. Katio formed a hallucination of blue flames hungrily lapping at one as he plunged Mesumari in the other. The one who he had tricked with a hallucination had disappeared, most likely died of fright. He saw a crowd of spirits attack the Naberius Huyu had taken on, the monster disappearing in a cloud of black dust. The ghouls snarled, charging them as he leapt, the shadow sword cutting three of them in half. Huyu's spirits, holding katanas and shurikens, the spirits of old warriors, he realized, fell upon the other four, tearing them in half mercilessly. An illusion of more blue flames took care of the hobgoblins.

"Congratulations… you just did what a normal half-demon could do under barely any training. I'll have to stock the room some more. Pathetic." Iblis muttered something under his breath that only he could make out. "Topple Gehenna… these wusses? Maybe when a monkey crawls out of my ass."

XXXXX

Maki stood in the center of the room she usually trained in, with the candles. Tsukino manipulated water boredly, making it form shapes, like that of a dragon, or weapons such as a katana or a messily-shaped gun.

"So…" she started awkwardly, "what should I do?"

With that, the water demon snapped to attention. "Right. Your brother put me in charge, didn't he?"

The idea of someone being called her brother through her relation with Satan angered her. She tolerated it for Rin, as he was still part human, but even then, she wasn't fond of it. "He's not my brother. Satan's not my father. He didn't raise me. He had no influence on my upbringing. So, I don't view anyone related to Satan my relative. And yes, the demon king did put you in charge of me. I usually train with candles."

With that, he snapped his fingers. "That's it. How about you summon your blue fire and I try to put it out so you fire can be stronger than water?"

"Okay. You're in charge." She set up seven candles, as was the amount she was put to. "I have to light the first, third, fifth, and seventh candles simultaneously without the flames lighting the candles themselves on fire, just the wicks." As was routine for her, after about three tries, the correct candles were lit before a small wave wiped them out and returning to Tsuniko's hand as he smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I told you your flames have to be stronger than water."

XXXXX

Akashi sat in front of a chess board with Mikada. When Iblis stated that he wanted the pink-haired girl to learn strategy, he knew it was for a reason.

"So… what's the horse do, again?" she asked through a mouthful of ramen noodles.

"The _knight_ can move one over and two up or two over and one up. Can we start now?" Usually he was tolerant, but the childish girl was wearing on his nerves.

"Sure!" she smiled.

He won within ten moves.

The process repeated for about six times before he saw the first real sign of progress: she took a pawn that he didn't set up for her to take. That said, she was still pretty horrible at chess. This would be a _long _day.

XXXXX

Emiko sat in front of the only real enemy she had made since class had started: Ieyoshi Mayako. She was uncontrolled, weak, and so unbearably _human_ that it made her sick. "Why are you so _human_? Didn't you suffer at the hands of the mortals? They're monsters. Worse than us."

Looking intently at the three burns on her right arm, she said, "What did they do to you? Because I had a mother, and two brothers, all human. My father was present until I was six as well, but that is beside the point."

"My mother died giving birth to me. I was raised in an orphanage, and every week, new children would come in, not getting that their parents weren't coming back. It made me sick. Why would they get to know their parents and I wouldn't? After a particularly ugly outbreak when I was four and I yelled at a girl that her parents weren't coming back because they didn't love her, I was officially isolated. I was stuck in a separate building at all times, only seeing people to bring me food and teach me to read and write. I was stuck like that for twelve years. Then Belial claimed me as his daughter, and I just felt all this… _power_ going through me. I decided to pay them back… all the people who isolated me there, the stupid children who didn't know the truth, the arrogant children who jeered at me and called me a freak… I killed them all. That's how Mephisto found me. I still don't regret it. I've known for a while I wasn't like them, and I would never want to be. And you? What makes humans so great?"

"I recognize I'm not normal, but you don't regret killing those people. I'm different. I hated myself. Hell, I _still_ hate myself. They were only ten. Only children."

"Who?" Normally she didn't care, but Mayako listened to her, so she decided to return the favor.

"My brothers. They looked exactly like Dad… minus the eyes. I didn't mean to hurt them. I got angry at my mom, and suddenly, the house was on fire. They all died. So that's why I don't like being a demon. Because me being a demon is what killed my family. I understand you love being a demon, not one of them, but my humanity's the only thing I have left of them."

She didn't normally give out second chances. But maybe this once… "I guess we got off on the wrong foot." She offered her hand. "Emiko Ryuujin."

She took it. "Mayako Ieyoshi."

She heard Iblis' voice behind her. "I guess that the bond between me and Belial is stronger than the two of us. Now, get to work."

**A/N: So, that's it! Loved it? Hated it? Please review to let me know! And if you haven't already, vote on the poll on my profile! Please, please, please, do NOT vote for your own OC.**


	10. Going Easy?

**A/N: Welcome to the nuthouse, my wonderful readers! I'm so sorry, but I've been kinda busy over Christmas. Hey, if you had twenty cousins, eight aunts and uncles (not including the ones who married into the family) and a crapload of family friends, you'd be running around, too. But to make it up to you, here is an extra long chapter =D**

**I don't own anything but Mayako or Iblis. **

"Welcome to your own personal Hell," Iblis said as he entered the classroom. "I think that you should all know something beyond the speech I gave you all yesterday. You're not on the same level as the others. Your power will never amount to theirs. That's why I'm going to go easy on you. Because let's face it: when the time comes, they'll be the ones saving the day. You're not as strong as them. I bet about half of you will not survive. But don't worry; you won't die while I'm in charge of you. Probably."

With that short speech by Iblis, the smell of fear became pungent in the classroom. Ron almost couldn't stand the sickeningly sweet smell.

"Now, just because I'm going easy on you, do not expect this to be a walk in the park. You will be pushed to your mental _and _physical breaking point. You will _beg_ for Shura to teach by the time I'm done with you. Ferus, Elody, Hotomi, Okami. Stand to the right. I'll deal with you later. You have good control over your abilities, so you don't have as far to go. Ryuu, Cassidy, Mayu, stay here. I have my work cut out for me with you three."

XXXXX

Ryuu was in a batting cage, with a pitching machine of sorts on each side of it.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that you're wondering what I'm doing here," Iblis said from outside the cage. "Here's the thing: you're going to work on your time manipulation. These," he pointed to the pitching machines, "are going to come at you, one at a time. You're going to stop time while they're still in the air, hit them down with this," he put a _shinai_ in Ryuu's hand, "and resume time to repeat the exercise. And we're going until the snooty rich kid, that's you, drops from exhaustion." He locked the cage from the outside, a smirk on his face. _This _was '_going easy'_ on him? Taking out a stopwatch, he pressed the button and said, "Begin."

The first ball came, unsurprisingly, from the front. He concentrated, stopping time. He could already feel the fatigue coming on, but not much. The ball was about a foot in front of him, so he took the _shinai _in his hand and hit it away gently, intent on not expending too much energy. He broke the tie that he had formed, like snipping a string. The process repeated itself, coming then from the right, then the left, then the back, then back to the right, with varying speeds. One had come from behind him at what he guessed was about 100 miles per hour. It just made contact with his back, barely touching the fabric of his shirt, before he found out where it was coming from. He stopped time, but instead of batting it aside like the others, he simply held it, picking up three others from the others that numbered in the teens. Taking the four balls in his hands, he stuffed them into the cannons, one each. He severed the tie that he felt was becoming more and more fragile as he expended more effort, knowing he wasn't going to last much longer. Resuming time, the cannon to his left backfired and he heard the whirring of the other three stop and saw Iblis unlock the door, his face angry, eyes looking menacing as if they were indeed made of real fire, red sparks flashing around him.

"You think that was funny back there, you little brat?" He practically yelled, grabbing his collar. "Goddammit. You think you were being clever? Funny? Because you weren't. You were being stupid. A smartass. Do you know what happens when you pull that kind of stunt in battle? You lose control, and then pass out. Believe it or not, I'm here to help you learn to _survive_. I can't do that when you insist on pulling your little _tricks_." Ryuu could see now why the Demon Kings were regarded as the most fearsome beings of Gehenna. His features were completely transformed, the flamelike markings on his arms starting to move. Calming himself, looking more like a normal American human, he let him go, his eyes still burning. "Whatever. If you want to waste your life like that it's not my business. I'm done. I have other pathetic half-breed weaklings to train."

XXXXX

Cassidy honestly couldn't tell where she was. She had a blindfold, earplugs, and nose plugs on, blocking three of her five senses. Reaching out, she felt a smooth wall. She heard a voice from above her, muffled, but she could tell from the American accent that the voice belonged to Iblis. "As you can see—well, not see, since that's the point of the blindfold—I've blocked the senses of yours that are more acute than that of a human's, and what I've put on you right now would normally completely ruin a normal human's senses of smell, hearing, and sight. I've put you in a maze with clues that will relate to your blocked senses to build sensitivity. But I'm warning you, I've also put in some, ah, surprises, should you not follow those clues. Begin."

Immediately, she saw a series of lights traveling to the right, and a menacing growl from the left. _I guess that's what he meant by 'surprises'_. Placing her left hand on the wall, she followed the lights, though they were faint through the blindfold. She then smelled something—like a steak dinner. Deciding this was another clue, she turned to the left, following the smell though about ten turns in the corridor. She then heard a growl and a hiss, like a Naberius and a cobra. She turned away from that and about fifteen turns later, she was at the end. At least, she assumed as much, as the walls disappeared and the noises suddenly stopped.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?" She asked, or yelled more like, as she could hear her voice through the earplugs.

"Yeah. Take the ear and nose plugs out, too." Doing as she was told, her first sight was that of a condescending smirk on Iblis' face. "Congratulations. You were able to sense blinding lights and deafening sounds in an incredibly easy maze. Well, I guess I'll give you some wiggle room. It is only your first exercise, after all. You passed. Go ahead and hit the showers, since you're done for the day."

XXXXX

Rin slammed his fist on the table. He honestly couldn't believe this. It was bad enough that Mephisto had insisted on having Iblis teach his students to fine-tune their powers, but this was crossing the line. "What the _hell _was that?!" he demanded of the demon.

Iblis' eyes burned lazily as he examined his blood-colored talons. "If you want a rematch, you should just ask. No need to be pushy about it."

"That's not what I was talking about! I was talking about that little stunt with Cassidy in that maze! Not only did you summon a Naberius, but you sent an Anguis demon, too? What if she didn't succeed? They could've killed her!"

"First off, that wasn't _an_ Anguis demon, that was _the_ Anguis Demon, my most loyal familiar, and second, I would've called them off. Unlike you, my familiars would never disobey me." He paused. "You _do_ have familiars, right? You're a son of Satan, my little brother."

He had managed to summon a few familiars, with difficulty, and the fact that he could bring forth scores of demons so flippantly perplexed him. _Is that what would happen if I became a full demon? If I took Gehenna's throne?_ Then he realized what Iblis was doing, and snapped out of it. "Don't change the subject! You risked the life of one of your students. You should know that if you so much as _hurt_ any one of those students, you earn yourself a one-way ticket back to Gehenna!"

Iblis shrugged. "It's not like I actually _want _to teach these weaklings. I honestly wouldn't mind going home."

That was it. He was going to _kill_ this son of a bitch. Then he remembered what Mephisto told Rin to say if the Demon King ever got out of hand. "And your _daughter_ would join you. At least the two of you could have some bonding time."

The threat certainly had the desired effect. "Now listen here, you blue-balled, half-breed, daddy's-boy bastard. Do what you want to _me_, but _touch_ one hair on Mayako's head and I will burn you just enough to stay alive, and drag you kicking and screaming to Gehenna, so Father can see just how _weak_ his precious heir is." He turned his back. "I have to get back to teaching. Remember this conversation whenever considering what to do with my daughter."

XXXXX

It was freezing, even by Mayu's standards, in the room she was in. Desperately wishing she had brought something to shield her from the frigid air, she looked around at the frost-covered walls. She could see some… _things_ stuck in the ice, as well. Turning around, she saw Iblis.

"Well, here's the deal, Icy. You'll have to build a wall of ice in front of you. Meanwhile, I'll steadily drop the temperature to bring these little guys," he pointed to the demons in the blocks of ice, "out of the ice and into consciousness. If you manage to keep them cold enough to still be frozen in two minutes, you'll be done for the day. If not, well, we'll just have to keep practicing."

When she received the signal to begin, she started forming the ice. It was surprisingly difficult—she had never tried anything of this level before. When she saw the blocks starting to melt, she focused more, focusing on the ice, cold, anything to help enhance her powers. The wall was now complete, albeit thin, and she was frankly tired as hell. _Come on. Just a little longer_. But the ice kept melting, and it was soon revealing the demons. A while later, she couldn't tell whether it was ten seconds or a minute, she was so frozen, the demon's first leg began to twitch. _No! _Was the last thing she thought before passing out.

When she woke, she was laying on a bed. "You know, you almost made it halfway there. If only you'd have focused longer… oh well, it doesn't matter. I'll have to build up your stamina, though." With that, the darkness closed in again.

**A/N: So… that's it! I'll return with the more powerful half-demons next chapter! Oh, and in case you were wondering, Anguis is Latin for 'snake', or more specifically, in this case, a cobra. Oh, and Mayu is completely fine, I just wanted to end it there.**

**Soo… how was it? Good? Bad? So awful it moved you to tears or a tantrum? I won't know unless you, you know, REVIEW!**

**And the poll is still open! Please vote! **


	11. Make 'em Sweat

**A/N: Hello, people! I got another update for you already! And here, I dunno, I wanted Iblis to make them sweat (not that way, perverts!), so here we are! I only own Iblis, cuz he's just that epic.**

Iblis walked where Hotomi and the others were waiting around three, looking seriously miffed.

"Okay. Let's get this shit out of the way because I am seriously not in the mood to put up with you little brats right now. First off—all of you drop and give me fifty." He wasted no time in introductions or warnings as he led the four of them outside, to another obstacle course. As if the last one they went through wasn't enough of a disaster. But Hotomi wasn't about to talk back to one of the most powerful beings on the planet. Fire demons creeped her out enough as it was. But _the_ Fire Demon? Forget it.

Reluctantly they all got on the ground and started doing some semblance of pushups.

"Oh God. You are pathetic. _That_ is not a pushup. That's—I don't know _what_ that is." He got down and did a series of five pushups, calves in the air. "Those are pushups. I want you to do fifty of those and you're not going back in until you do that."

About ten pushups in she was about to drop. These took a lot of energy, and her sweater-dress was getting torn up. She plopped down, exhausted, like many of her classmates. Catching Iblis' eye, his glare was enough to motivate her to finish a few minutes later. She was the second to finish, after Ron. He looked exhausted, but not dead on his feet like she felt. After that, Okami finished, followed later by Elody.

The teacher looked at the girl in the Victorian-era dress critically. "_You're_ my lieutenant's daughter? How disappointing. How do you expect to do your old man proud like _that_?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Oh well. Moving on. Five-mile run. Now."

XXXXX

Ron was used to pushups. He was used to running. Well, through cities at least. So when he heard the words 'five mile run', he thought it wouldn't be so bad. But, of course reality had to shit on his plans. The run was through, of course, a forest. A big, green, freaking forest full of bugs and God knows what else. There was no path, either. A path could've helped. But it was exactly as it was probably hundreds of years ago, completely untouched by humans. It kind of freaked him out a bit. He was a city kid. It might've been the bad part of the city, but it was still the city, with buildings and cars and the familiar smell of asphalt and cigarette smoke, all of it manmade. He knew what made it. He knew that if something happened, someone would hear him scream. Not here. It was solitary and silent, with only the smell of plants and clean air, where only the trees could hear him.

The run, with Okami unsurprisingly at the head of the pack, was miserable. Gnats and mosquitoes came at him full force, attracted to the bare skin of his arms and face. About a mile in, the run, thankfully, came to a stop. Running in the woods wasn't like running in the city. You had to watch your step, and there were hills and about ten times the obstacles. He distantly recognized that Iblis was talking.

"Well, kids, right in this very spot," he pointed to the ground, where there was a scorched spot where nothing grew, "Rin Okumura's heritage as a Son of Satan was made pretty damn public. My idiot brother decided to attack him here, kidnap his girlfriend, and… well let's just say it didn't go over well for Amaimon. That incident is important to you as half-breeds. This is where the whole fight about what should be done about them began. Moving on…"

XXXXX

With the run thankfully over (running in petticoats was truly inconvenient), they moved to the obstacle course. Elody gasped. Not this again. And this time, she didn't have a teacher that even remotely cared whether she lived or died to watch them.

"Well, I think that this looks kind of familiar to you guys. Some of you had to go on this. Now, since I understand that one of you had a little, ahem, _incident_ on this, you have to be careful when you do this. Not that I care, but less paperwork for me to fill out that way. After this, you're done for the day. Go ahead, have fun on the playground and try not to kill yourselves."

The first step was running through tires, as last time, only this time she wasn't in training pants. As uncomfortable as it was running in a dress, wearing pants was even less so. Being raised in an era where a woman who wore her dresses above the ankles was improper and a woman wearing _trousers_ was nothing less than scandalous, it was actually somewhat comfortable wearing the whalebone corsets and layers of petticoats of her day. It gave her something to connect to it, not the loud, noisy, manmade world of today.

Thankfully, there was a mat under the obstacles that she dealt with this time around. She dealt with the net wall and the monkey bars without much difficulty, remembering to keep her hands from getting sweaty, and the cold weather helped, too. She finished last, Ron, Okami, and Hotomi ahead of her, respectively.

"Well, you didn't fall this time, so I'll take that as improvement," said the teacher sarcastically.

XXXXX

Okami was bone-tired. Any of the three exercises she could handle without a problem, but one after the other without breaks in between took a toll on her. She supposed that was what Iblis wanted—to build up stamina in his students. Elody, who was changing into another ridiculous dress, asked for help lacing up her corset.

"Thanks," she said once she finished. "You were great out there. Even kept up with Ron."

She knew an attempt at forging friendship when she heard it. She thought Elody was a nice girl, albeit prim and proper, but she knew that her father would ruthlessly murder whoever she befriended. "Whatever. You should stop wearing these dresses. They don't help you any." With that, she gathered up her sweaty workout clothes and leaving the locker room.

Leaving, she saw Ron walking through the halls, presumably to his room. "Good going there, wolfy," he told her, nodding towards her. "You're a pretty fast runner. Maybe we should race on the street sometime, see who's really faster." The American kept walking on after making his offer. Maybe _a couple_ friends couldn't hurt… _No. I can't. Not unless I want them mauled and burned._ She hated this. She couldn't even _trust_ the people who could become her teammates. She'd deal with it. She's been doing this for a while.

**A/N: Well that's it for this time! Drop a review and vote on the poll! **

**Stay awesome,**

**Abby. **


	12. Bonding, Blueberries, and Beetles

**A/N: Soo… I'm back! This was going to be a real mother of a chapter and halfway through I got writers' block, so I'm dividing this chapter in half, okay? And it's kinda a headcanon of mine in the Ao No Exorcist world and it's weird, but I thought, **_**Hey… I made Iblis look a lot like Pyro from X-Men: Evolution. **_**So it snowballed from there. And don't get on me about watching XM: E when I'm 16. It's awesome. You should watch it. And I'm not sure if the 'Toes in a Cuisinart' line was from 'Deadpool: the Circle Chase', or 'Merc with a Mouth', so I went with the latter. And you should read Deadpool, too. The dude's awesome. And I only own Maya and Iblis. So, without further ado, I present the next chapter!**

Emiko was sort of used to getting up early by now, but she was still tired. After all, the sun wasn't even _up_ yet. She looked over to Mayako, who had bags under her eyes and tiny sparks flying irritably around her. She realized a while ago, when they were still at each other's throats, that mornings were _not _her time to shine. She wondered what they were doing here do ridiculously early.

The Okumura brothers and Shura-sensei accompanied Iblis today, along with a muscular man with dark brown hair and a thick blond streak running through it and a man with pink hair.

"Good morning, students. Today you will be on your first mission as exorcist apprentices. Now, I understand that some of you," Yukio-sensei nodded at Emiko, "have problems with killing demons. For this reason, this will be a mission to discourage the demons, with killing them as a last resort. Each team of two, which I understand Iblis has already formed, will have a chaperone." Exorcist apprentices? She didn't sign up for this. She signed up to learn to control her powers.

The ten adolescents separated into their teams—Emiko, as last time, with Mayako, Amaimon's children, Katio and Huyu, Mikada and Akashi, and Tsukino stood by Maki, silently telling her to behave herself. Emiko was surprised; she hadn't known many siblings in her life, but it was strange to see the water demon look for all the world like her older brother.

Beside her, she saw Iblis stand between her and Mayako, smiling. Iblis, _smiling._ The other girl sent her father a sore look and she couldn't help but wonder just what happened between the two of them. "So, are we ready to head out?"

XXXXX

Iblis led his team of his daughter and niece to the town surrounding True Cross academy. He never cared for Japan much, preferring the ever-changing culture of America, but he was with his daughter, who still looked so much like Misao. He remembered when he last saw her, a black-haired six-year-old with innocent brown eyes who always wanted to play 'Kenshin' with him. He'd drawn a little 'X' on his right cheek and everything, even went 'oro' when she'd jokingly hit him.

Then the other day, he learned the hard way that his sweet little daughter had become bitter and angry, and even today, she sent a few resentful looks his way. _Why didn't I tell her?_ He thought miserably. He'd always cared about his offspring, even if he didn't know he had a child. He wished he could've met his sons. _They looked just like you,_ she said. Emiko reminded him a lot of Belial, too. His brother rarely ever came to Japan, however, preferring Europe due to the tales they told of his creations there. Egyn, well, he never cared for the eldest Demon King, but he stuck to the seas, which was good for him.

"So, what's this _mission?_" Emiko spat the last word out like it was poison.

"It seems that my old comic book store in True Cross town was overrun with my kin shortly after I faked my death." At that part, Maya shot him another glare, obviously still sore about that. "Well, exorcists have tried cleaning it out, but they just keep coming back."

"You ran a _comic book store_?"

He shrugged. "I've spent the past 50 years on Assiah after a falling out with Dad. I saw a help-wanted sign and ended up working for Marvel for a time. Hell, they named one of their _X-Men _after me."

"St. John Allerdyce, or Pyro," Maya supplied. He taught her how to read with comic books, so it made sense.

"Well, yes, it was my alias at the time—an Australian looking for work in America. I always kept a lighter with me and the thing kinda snowballed from there. Well, anyway, I had experience in that field and wanted to see what my brother thought was _so great_ about Japan. I liked America better. So, a woman wearing a kimono, of all things, walks in, saying she's lost and late for dinner. We started talking, and, well, Maya knows the rest. But about eight years later, when Maya was six and Misao was pregnant again, this time with twins, your father, Belial, comes—we've always been close—and warned me that dad was okay with us running around with humans, but… not actually _settle down _with them." The rest of the story crashed down on him, remembering a little girl in pigtails hold on to her mommy's leg as she held two infants whilst a coffin was lowered into the ground. "He was going to kill them if I didn't leave. So I faked my own death, and went back to America. Well, the Familiars I'd summon to help out with the work didn't believe I was gone, so they stayed." He paused, in front of an abandoned building, the sign almost falling off, _United (States) Comics: Classics from the West. _

He pulled out a key—he'd forgotten that he kept it—and put it into the lock.

The store was much like he left it, only with ten years of abandonment. The books that weren't in sleeves and were made with regular paper were dried out and cracked. He picked up a sleeved one, _Merc with a Mouth, _and flipped through it. He chuckled when he saw the line that had always been his favorite: _"What's got _your_ toes in a Cuisinart?"_ He then saw the first demon, it was a snake, about five feet long. It was just a baby when he left it. "Hey there, little guy, remember me?" it flicked its tongue in acknowledgement. "Well, I'm back, so you don't need to watch the store anymore, okay?" It rested its head in his hand and for a moment contentment passed through it before it left.

There were about fifteen other snake demons, along with five or so panther demons and a few rats. They were all sent back in a matter of about ten minutes or so.

At long last, he said, "I'll miss this place."

XXXXX

Yukio rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. The son and daughter of Amaimon were nothing less than a handful. When he focused on Daichi, Kitkat was off talking to plants and giggling. When he kept his eye on Kitkat, Daichi would have something broken or dead in his hands, saying, "How boring," or something to that effect. And he thought that babysitting _Rin _was a task back when they were in high school.

"So is there any reason we're here other than a nature walk?" asked the small girl dryly.

He cleared his throat before saying, "We're going to be visiting a swamp which is just about a mile's walk from here. Once you're there, you'll be hunting Bariyons."

The two teenagers' blank looks spoke volumes.

"You'll find out what they are soon enough."

At the swamp, the two exchanged a look. He knew that after the first day of training, they've been nigh on inseparable. Daichi focused, raising his hands and a giant part of the swamp lifted itself. Kitkat, meanwhile, was making a giant net of vines and plants. She maneuvered it under the pile of mud, water, and gunk. Most of it filtered itself out, leaving mud covered stones resting atop the net. They each grabbed one, the young girl griping about how heavy it was, and started a small pile. The process kept repeating itself until the pile of the stone demons, about ten high, vanished.

"What?!" shrieked Kitkat.

Daichi looked somewhat smug. "At least something's happening."

"You forgot to put the seals I gave you earlier on the Bariyons. You'll have to find them again." He remembered his own first Exwire mission, and it went much like this, only Shirou had fallen over laughing at the sight of an eight year old almost passed out from exhaustion looking around in bewilderment as to where the Bariyons went.

Daichi sighed as he began picking up layers off the turf and levitating them with his powers as he looked for the rocks. "Come on. I want to spar with my sister." Suddenly, one sprang up from underground and flew at his face, knocking him down. His features lit with a sick grin. "So you want to play?"

The next half hour was spent with the rock demons flinging themselves at Daichi and him dodging them or disabling them, restoring the pile. Then he realized he forgot Kitkat and mentally slapped himself. _What if something happened to her_?

When he found her, by a blueberry bush, the collar of her shirt was undone, her neck unrestricted, as she grabbed at her throat trying to breathe. "What happened?" he asked the strangling girl. With one hand, she pointed to the bush and gasped "allergic". _Dammit._ The blueberries were probably inflaming her throat. The _one time_ he doesn't have his First Aid kit with him… He picked her up and ran to Daichi, who was levitating the now-restored pile of Bariyons as he said, "Your sister is suffocating. We have to go back to campus to get to the Infirmary. Quickly."

Seeming to understand, the boy tore a chunk out of the ground and the three stepped on it as he rushed back to campus. Once there, he gave her a shot that freed her airways.

"What happened?" he asked again to the now-breathing Kitkat.

"I was hungry walking through the forest and I found the blueberries. I liked blueberries, so I ate them. I didn't know I was allergic."

He couldn't think of what to say. "Just… get some rest, okay?"

Daichi walked to her as he grinned. "Good job, _imouto-chan. That _was fun."

XXXXX

Ryuuji was never really good with kids growing up, much less _teenagers_. And now here he was, because Rin decided to call in a favor. Apparently the _genius_ had decided to take in a class of half-demons—nine of them, children of the Demon Kings, and one was the daughter of Satan. Thankfully, Rin had decided to babysit his half-sister, but he was stuck with two other kids, the daughter of Beelzebub and the son of Samael.

Akashi hung back as Mikada ran around, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Admittedly, the pink-haired girl somewhat reminded him of Shiemi. He wondered why Rin hadn't called his girlfriend in for this before realizing that her people skills hadn't exactly _improved _in the past five years and probably would still rather run the Exorcists' shop with her mother than babysit emotional (and powerful) half-breeds. He felt a tug on the sleeve of his Exorcist's jacket and looked to the side to see Mikada.

"Suguro-sensei, why does your hair look like a rooster?" He half felt the need to shoot back something about her hair being pink but thought better of it and ignored the energetic girl.

Akashi, who had been walking alongside him in a comfortable silence, spoke up. "What's the mission, Suguro-san?"

The parameters of the mission were vague but he explained what he could. "We seem to have a Dark Elf problem—due to unforeseen circumstances, a herd of about five Dark Elves have been wreaking havoc in the border of True Cross Town—as close as they can get without the barriers Mephisto put there stopping them." As an Exwire, he had been on a mission much like this. Dark Elves were small and easy to handle, so cases involving them were usually given to them or newbie exorcists. Of course, two half-demons who weren't trained in the _least_ as to how to be an exorcist fit the bill, too. Well, he doubted the girl had any training, but the boy… there was something about him that said he had had dealings with demons before.

"We allowed to use our powers?" he asked.

"Well, seeing as you weren't cleared to use any weapons, along with the fact that you're _here_ to learn to use your powers, I'd say yes."

After about twenty minutes of walking, they finally reached the cause of the problem.

Like humans, Dark Elves had the same basic features, such as wings and four limbs on a humanoid body, but they all looked different. The largest, about a foot tall, had black hair that reached its waist and blood red eyes, with ghostly white skin. It turned to Ryuuji and bared its fangs, as if challenging the Exorcist. He ordered the two students to action.

The smallest two were disposed of easily enough, courtesy of Akashi burning them where they stood… or floated. The next two tried to get away when Mikada did something that pinned them to the ground so they couldn't get away and she ordered them back to Gehenna. The largest, however, did not like the fact that its four comrades were gone, summoning a small sword that appeared to be made of briars. He didn't like this. Only the oldest of the Dark Elves could summon like that. It wildly slashed at the pair, nicking Mikada's leg and upper arm. Akashi formed a small sphere of fire around the creature.

"Go back to Gehenna," he ordered. The Dark Elf, with a nod, complied. The pair now standing by Suguro, Akashi asked, "That all?"

**A/N: Soooo, how was it? Good? Bad? Hated it so much you wanna shoot me? Please leave a review to let me know! Plleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaassssse eee? **


	13. Broken Seals, Broken Spirits

**A/N: Yeah, late update, I know. Don't kill me, but I lost my notebook I was holding this story in and I just found it, so lame excuse, I know, but oh well. I don't own anything.**

Shima honestly couldn't take the gloom anymore. Sure, he'd been around enough dark moods in the past five years, especially with him dating Izumo (talk about doom and gloom), but this just took it to the next level. This was his fifth attempt (at least) at him trying to lighten the mood.

"So… how has learning under a Demon King been? And I thought that having Yukio was strict. I could only imagine—"

He was cut off by a bug. A giant, motherfucking bug. It was slimy and huge and black, its mandibles, each probably the size of his arm chopping the air threateningly in his face. He nearly passed out.

"Shima-san?" came the voice of Katio.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." With that, the bug dissolved into the air.

Huyu fell back to walk by him. "I'm sorry about that, Shima-sensei. He gets like this at times." His face cracked into a grin, "Like when he breathes in or out. He just doesn't like optimists. Or daytime. And God forbid you light a fire or scream like a girl. But to answer your question, yeah, he's strict. He makes all the teams share a room 'to build trust'. Then he wakes us up at this ungodly hour for mediocre tests. And to put the cherry on top, he pushes us way too hard. He made me summon fifty spirits at once yesterday. Needless to say, I passed out after a few seconds."

Taking note of his criticisms of his partner, Shima asked, "I'm taking it you don't like Katio?"

He shook his head. "No way. The dude's freaking awesome, with his fear powers and stuff, it's just, you can only take so much at a time. Like using your powers. So what are we doing here?" he gestured to the borders of the campus town, where they were.

"You get the _fun _job. Gotta check all those seals surrounding the town. I had to do that in my days as an Exwire."

Looking up at the pink-haired man, Huyu asked, "And what's up with the making us Exorcists anyway? We all signed up with the specific intention of learning to use our powers so we don't hurt anyone."

He shook his head. "God only knows why Sir Pheles does the things he does. I'm sure he has good reason for dragging me out of Kyoto to babysit you."

"You're too trusting. Now, where are these seals?"

"Under sewer covers, hidden on trees, inscribed on the outside of school buildings, well, pretty much everywhere. The seals are what make the school safe. Anything over a goblin is automatically blocked. Well, except for Familiars. But when I went here we had an incident with a Gale demon. It ended up possessing one of my closest friends."

"What happened?"

"Rin, in all of his blue-flamey glory, exorcised it from him though it did cause a couple minor injuries. Heh," he thought, reminiscing, "We sure had some good times as kids."

"Well, I'd hate to interrupt your little 'back in my day' speech, but I found something," came the voice of the other teenager.

Lifting one of the sewer lids, he saw a seal broken and replaced with another one. Huyu paled. "This is not good. Not good at all."

"What is it?"

"A summoning circle for Azazel," answered Huyu shortly. "My father."

XXXXX

Rin watched Maki speak animatedly with Tsukino. Suddenly, he was reminded of himself at her age. She was so energetic, carefree, almost. Tsukino, meanwhile, responded with far more patience than Yukio had at that age. He even joined in at times. Once, he asked him why he enjoyed Maki's company so much. He responded by telling him about his little sister, Rei, back when he was a child. He admitted that he didn't know whether she was still alive at the moment, but Maki was still so much like her.

Rin couldn't blame him for 'adopting' a family member. He had adopted Shiro as his father and the priests as his brothers at a young age. Looking forward, he noticed that she wasn't there anymore. He felt a poke at his back. Turning around, ready for action, he saw it was just his little half-sister. "Tsukino found something. We were supposed to look at the seals, correct?"

He affirmed that was the case.

"You should see this, then." She drug him to a wall on the outside of a school building, where there was a seal inscribed, but normal people couldn't see them. It was slashed through, and he saw a note, written in paint:

_Son of Satan,_

_Rei wants to see her big brother. Meet me, with your entire 'team', at sundown tomorrow. If not, well, little Ren-chan will have to see something _very_ unpleasant._

_Your brother,_

_Azazel._

He raised his head from the note to see Tsukino's jaw working. "He has my sister. The bastard has my sister."

"Why don't you explain?"

He took a deep breath. "'Till I was ten, I was raised in a little cabin, away from civilization, with my mom and Rei. Then one day, they're just… gone. I spent the next six years on my own, then Mephisto offered me to come here. I always wondered what happened to them. I suspected that my mom died but my sister… I always hoped she'd lived. I guess I was right. And now one of the demon kings has her." Around them, any form of liquid started freaking out. He looked to the older man. "You'll… you'll do what the note says, won't you?" he asked, a rare flicker of desperation entering his eyes. "I… I _need _my sister. She's one of the few things I have left."

He wanted to say no, that he was putting almost twenty lives in danger if he did that, but he realized something: _If Dad was still alive, just missing, I'd burn down the world and dig him out of the ashes. And that's what he's going to do either way. _"Fine. But the second the mission looks like it's going south, we're turning tail. Understood?"

He nodded.

"I guess you guys will need some last-minute combat lessons. I'll tell Iblis."

**A/N: Le gasp! Der plot thickens! What do you think will happen? Tell me in a review! And while you're at it, can you tell me how you liked this chapter?**


	14. Better Be Prepared

**A/N: So I've decided to make a long chapter after the midget last time. Warning: shit's gonna get heavy. And after revisiting my Deadpool comics, ends up that the toes in a Cuisinart line is, in fact, from 'The Circle Chase' miniseries. I'm considering making another SYOC, only set completely with humans, in the past, when Shiro and Yuri were students. I'm not sure yet. **

**Oh, and I only own the plot, Iblis, and Maya.**

Closing her phone after talking to Rin, Shura cursed.

"There something wrong?" Iblis asked in English, so as not to worry the students. Shura spoke it fluently. She had some fuzzy memories of growing up where everyone spoke it, but she was about three at the time.

She turned her amethyst eyes to him. "We're going to have to give them last-minute fighting lessons. All of them."

"I hope you don't mean the other class. They may be half-breeds, but most of them are weaklings. One of them couldn't even do twenty push-ups without collapsing." His orange eyes were focused forward. "Who are they going up against?"

The word escaped her lips with as much venom as she could put into it. "Azazel." She had had a few run-ins with the King of Spirits throughout the years, each time claiming some of her colleagues as her own. A couple of them she even afforded to attach herself to… not a good idea for an Upper First Class Exorcist, the highest field officer.

His jaw clenched. "I should've known. He's one of the few who doesn't put himself above the affairs aside from one night stands, and not in a good way. Hades, Hela—the Norse weren't very smart. They made him a woman, and aside from that, Samael's child—Quetzalcoatl, Ah Puch, he deserved his bad reputation. He even took on the role of Ares, the god of war in ancient Greece. He loved—loves—seeing bloodshed, bodies strewn across the battlefield, and stuff like that. I've never seen him happy except during the Crusades, the World Wars, and the 1920's Prohibition Era in America. And he'd be damned, no pun intended, if he didn't have a hand in it." He paused, his eyes burning bright. "Who is he after, and what advantage does he have."

"He's after the entire half-breed class. And he has Tsukino's little sister, Rei."

He slammed a hand on the rock he was sitting on, red sparks flying from where they made contact. "Of course. He always takes a kid."

Trying to lighten up the mood, she asked, "Beer?" holding up a can to him.

"With what we're about to go through, I'll need a whole goddamned six-pack."

XXXXX

When Ron walked in for class, along with the 'normal' half-demons, he was surprised to see ten other teens there, and when he walked close enough to Tsukino, the smell of fear hit him like a full clip from a Tommy gun. When he asked what was wrong, he simply looked forward, terrified and said something like 'Ray'.

When Iblis and Shura walked in, carrying what could only be described as an arsenal, the smell amplified, coming from the whole room. Iblis started speaking while he made eye contact with Shura, trying to ask what was going on. "Okay. Normally you kids know I wouldn't even _consider_ training you together, but right now, we've got something of a crisis on our hands. My younger brother, Azazel, is after you, and there is every chance that if I don't train you today before I send you to battle tomorrow, that a majority of you won't make it out of there alive."

Akashi raised his hand. Iblis nodded. "You're the third in the Hierarchy. Azazel is the fifth. Can you not fight him yourself?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, kid, but I gotta keep my alliance with you guys on the down-low. Listen. If I fight with you today, sure, we win easy, but Azazel is going to go crying home to Daddy, telling him that I'm with you guys. From there, you'll be dealing with the big guns. Like, bigger than Azazel. In other words, we'll win the battle, but lose the war. Strategy, kid. I thought your dad taught you better than that." He paused, picking up his bag of weapons. "If you can use a weapon, raise your hand."

Hotomi, Elody, Okami, Akashi, Mayu, Tsukino, Ron, and Katio raised their hands.

"So, nine of you don't know how to use a weapon. Well, how about familiars?"

Maki, Huyu, Emiko, Okami, and Daichi raised their hands. Maya raised her hand extremely tentatively.

"Alright. Not bad, lily livers, but your powers _will_ be pushed to the limit these next two days. Some of you have issues with killing demons. You know what I'm going to say to that? Grow a pair. It's the good of the many versus your little morals. So deal with it. Now, we're going to see if those of you who don't normally fight can use weapons. Here we have the biggest collection of weapons across the cultures in Japan. The Turkish _kilij_ can cut a human in half with one go. The Thompson machine gun was what made a bloodbath of big cities in Prohibition-era America. One good go with a baseball bat can sever your spine, break ribs, or split a skull. Brass knuckles…" he fished the said item out of the bag, put them on, and punched the nearest wall, leaving a massive dent, "well, need I say more?" He resumed his lecture. "The Viking Great Axe can chop a limb clean off. The Morning Star, from Dark ages Europe, a spiked ball and chain that cut through chain mail and plate armor like butter. The Halberd, a Middle Ages edition of a battlefield Swiss army knife for hooking, chopping, and stabbing. These are just a few. So, what do you pick?"

Elody picked up a massive sword, a Scottish Claymore. Emiko chose a Morning Star. Daichi chose a halberd, saying it could be fun to use. Ron picked up a Tommy gun. That was way better than his own normal handguns. Maybe he'd even pull a Scarface. And not the '30s one where he ends up as a human air conditioner. Huyu picked up a _kilij_, saying something about his father. Maya picked up a pair of brass knuckles, a dagger, and a Swiss Army knife, kind of lightweight. Okami and Cassidy both picked a set of daggers. Maki chose a katana, as did Akashi and Ryuu. Mikada chose a foil, lightweight and custom designed for stabbing.

"Now. As for hand-to-hand combat. You'll have to go through that, too, so pair up, no weapons, no powers."

Maya was standing closest to Ron, so she shrugged and partnered up when he asked. Circling each other, he started talking. "So you like to arm yourself light."

"Don't get in a fight you can't win fast. My method is a lot of hits that don't take much energy."

"Good thinking. Come on, now."

She ran at him, her fist connecting with his gut. Admittedly, she didn't hit like a girl. He recovered from the hit as he aimed an uppercut, knocking her down. "You don't mess with the city kid," he said, resting his foot on her stomach. Maya, sneering, made the lowest blow in the book: a knee to the crotch. Well, if that didn't hurt like a mother….

"Don't mess with the brawler," she responded as he held his crotch, trying to alleviate the pain. On his knees, he drove an elbow into the back of her knee. Knocked off balance, the fight continued for a few more minutes until he kicked her back, and the weight of all her injuries obviously took their toll on her and she blacked out. He caught her before she could hit the ground and leaned her against the wall. Now, he needed a freaking icepack.

XXXXX

After sparring sessions, Emiko noticed that Ron had an icepack in a rather… specific place as Maya seemed a little zoned out.

"Well judging from the state of _some students_, you took sparring seriously. Now, here's the thing," Iblis said, gathering the students. "There's a storm coming. Until now, you've done all you can to keep from using your demon form. It's time to own up to what to don't want to: You're freaks. Misfits. Inhuman. Monsters. It's time you accept it, because this team isn't going to work if you cling to the _shred_ of humanity remaining in you. You'll have to know how to do that without destroying in a five-mile radius, though." He aimed a pointed look at Rin. "Accept it, and take control of it, and nothing can stop you. But you have to know the right time."

He set a series of targets up and called Emiko up. "Show 'em what you got, cowgirl." She had no idea what that meant, maybe it was an American phrase. He led her to a room built like a bunker, filled with android-esque dummies. "Destroy them all." Nodding, he shut the door behind him and heard a hiss.

She'd only assumed demon form a few times before, but she knew how to access it. When she did, it washed over her, sadistic, insane, bloodthirsty. Wings came from her back and her tail automatically released itself from around her waist. Feeling a gust of wind at her feet, she manipulated it at a dummy and it cut in half. The other thirty-some in the room took this as a signal, and they sprung to life, knives forming from their arms as they ran at her. In a blur of fire, water, and air, they all ended up singed or chopped in half. When she thought it was done, she made a move for the door, they reactivated.

She'd never flown before. She noticed the wings during transformation, but never knew if they would actually work. But they did, and the feeling of flight was exhilarating. Summoning a giant ball of fire, she threw it down and took out, permanently, ten or so of them. Using the air and a little water, she finished the rest of them off. She heard electrical crackling as she left the bunker.

XXXXX

"Weapons. You all have them. But do you know how to use them? I'm sure you know the basics on what it's supposed to do. Well, now that it's kind of a 'Do or Die' situation, you will need to learn to use them. Come on, Icy." Iblis beckoned Hotomi up to the target range.

Admittedly, it was a good idea to demonstrate with someone who knew how to use a weapon, but truth be told, she had never used weapons that were made with steel. Picking one of the _kunai_, it was cold, but not as cold as she was used to. It was heavier. There was something menacing about this weapon—it was created with the direct intent to kill, while hers were more tools than anything else. Taking its balance into mind, she threw it. It struck home, into the very center of the target, with a thunk. Upon closer inspection, the entire blade was embedded. _If that was a real human, alive, I would've killed him. I would've committed cold-blooded murder_. The very thought filled her with nausea.

Picking up a bow and the arrows, knocking one, she pulled the string back. It was harder to pull, more tense. But she was taught by her father how to shoot. Her aim never really failed her before. As she released it, she knew it would hit home, in the middle of the head.

As Iblis congratulated her on her aim, she questioned what she would have to sacrifice for this skill.

XXXXX

The next day continued the same way, each student's skills amplifying. Huyu stood at point of his group, Akashi on his left and Maya on the right.

He never felt any attachment to Azazel, if anything, a growing resent with each mythology he familiarized himself with. It probably wasn't natural, to feel this bloodlust for his father. Hell, for him any sort of _anger_ was unnatural to him, but after Tsukino told him about the note he saw about him holding his sister, the rage boiled over. The sun was on the border of the horizon, turning the sky shades of red, pink, purple, and blue.

"Huyu," he heard Maya's voice from the right as he looked at her.

"Come hell or high water, I'm glad that we're friends. Don't lose yourself on this. You'll make your way back, I know it. I was able to." He smiled. One of the few friends in his life was just saying she was going to stick with him.

"No son of mine is going to fraternize with the spawn of the human-lover," came a voice that sounded similar to his own, albeit deeper, from the shadows. The figure stepped out. "Hello there, _son_. Miss me?"

**A/N: Haha! Do you really think I'd include the real fight scene with Azazel? Well, until then, my readers. Oh, and can you drop a little review to tell me how I'm doing and your thoughts on the story so far?**

**Until then, vote for your favorite!**

**Hugs and firearms,**

**Abby.**


	15. Prepare for the Fight Scene!

**A/N: Well, here I am! Whew! Chapter fifteen! And here I thought it would only be a pet project, lasting 10 chapters, max. I give you a fight the evening of the beginning of the end of American culture, Obama's second inauguration. Just warning you, I suck at fight scenes. And this is how I imagined Azazel.**

**And I only own Azazel, Maya, and Iblis.**

The figure stepped out. "Hello there, _son_. Miss me?"

Azazel was tall and thin, almost sickeningly so. One of his eyes was amber, like Huyu's, and the other was so black he couldn't tell where the iris ended and the pupil began. His skin was as white as his greasy hair. A dark gray skeletal tail came from his back, and he was surrounded by spirits, Huyu guessed they were slaves.

"Go to hell," he spat.

"That's no way to treat your father." He looked at Huyu's weapon. "Oh, dear. Put that down before you poke your eye out or something."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akashi signal the other groups.

Behind Azazel, Huyu saw Maya hit her mark.

"You know, that's kind of funny, because that's _exactly_ what we were planning on doing." Came the slightly American-accented voice.

When Azazel turned, Maya greeted him with a right hook with her brass knuckles, tiny sparks playing across them—Iblis and Mephisto did something with them that allowed their powers to work with the weapons.

"Goodness. Just like your father, I see—unable to see a lost cause. When you look back in history, did I ever just _let_ someone escape my watch? You might recognize the two who came closest: Hercules and Orpheus. Many have tried. None have succeeded. Why would I let a precious little gem like Rei get away?"

Slicing his palm with a black talon, a girl emerged who looked like Tsukino, if not a few years younger: black hair and shocking blue eyes that stood out against her pale face, wearing a Grecian-style blue dress.

"Look how lovely she is. My realm has truly been kind to her. In four years, when she is sixteen, her abilities as half-demon will be unlocked, and she can stay with me, unrestricted, as my queen. My wonderful little diamond." He ran a taloned hand down her cheek as she stared at him with venom. "While she is fiery as the core deep within this curious little planet of yours."

Tsukino and his group, who had just arrived, came from behind him, as there was a creek to his strategic advantage.

"Hey ugly," Tsukino's voice was terrifyingly calm. When Azazel turned around, he manipulated the water to form a wave headed for him. "I really, _really_, hope you don't swim." With that, he sent the wave hurtling towards the demon king. He just chuckled quietly before disappearing and reappearing about five feet away.

"You can't seriously believe that would work on me. Remember one thing: I have your sister. Whether she lives or dies tonight relies heavily on what you do."

XXXXX

Tsukino saw Azazel dodge his wave—an attack he had to practice for hours to execute without wanting to pass out—with such ease that he might as well have been standing still. It was then that he realized just how out of his league he was. _I'll kill Azazel for hurting my sister and killing my mother_, he swore to himself. He thought he had a chance. That was the worst part. He now knew what the saying 'talk is cheap' meant. If everyone could own up to their internal promises, no matter how small, how different would the world be? The world is only changed by people who have the gall to _make_ it happen, not just talk about it. He thought that he was powerful enough, that it would be easy to take him down. But it wasn't. It made him look like a child playing at being a big hero.

He was half-tempted to give the signal; the one that would tell everyone to release their full power by turning to their demon side, but Iblis said he only had one shot at that Hail Mary pass, and Azazel was just getting warmed up. He had to be giving his all before they revealed their trump card.

Over the two-way radios they all were using, he signaled Emiko. She was in charge of the Tamers. A wolf clothed in blue flames, a ghostly hound, an eight-headed dragon, a white wolf, several giant snakes, and a panther with flames dancing on its skin (Iblis had taught Maya how to summon different familiars but explained she could only summon ones who possessed animals he had influence over) charged from one side to the Demon King while on the other sides, he was surrounded by weapon-wielding half-demons, Tsukino's own scythe in his hand.

Lazily raising a hand, a wall of spirits blocked the familiars as they bounced off harmlessly. "I see you're not surrendering."

Tsukino shrugged. "Not our style. But we'll stop if you'd be so kind as to _give me my fucking sister back._" He charged him as a smoky sword seemingly fabricated itself into Azazel's hand. He parried the blow, matching it with one of his own. Huyu took the temporary distraction as an opportunity. He stealthily encountered his father with the _kilij_, chopping off his arm.

He scrunched up his face. "Well, this is inconvenient. You should know better than to interrupt your father when he's working. No matter," he said, as the arm returned to his shoulder, automatically stitching itself back together. Suddenly, Azazel's feet were trapped to the ground by mounds of earth covering them and root systems tying them down. The brother/sister duo of Daichi and Kitkat had come through. The two looked like they had done this a thousand times, though it might well be true. Looking down at his feet, he called out, "Children of Amaimon, come forth. I know this is your doing."

The short girl and the tall, bored-looking boy stepped from the shadows. "Well, I hope that when you return to your place in Gehenna you realize that we had a hand in it," said Kitkat.

He burst out laughing at that. "You think that you, seventeen misfits, _freaks_ who belong in neither our dimension nor Assiah, can force _me_, one of the Eight Demon Kings of Gehenna, can force me _anywhere?_ You must be insane!"

Seeing the slight tiredness behind his eyes, he decided to signal them. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I'll be damned if we just sit down and let you get away with Rei." Raising a wave the height of which he never imagined he could use and holding up his scythe, he yelled, "NOW!"

XXXXX

Maya, from her place with the Tamers, saw the signal. Reaching inside herself, she found it: the bloodthirsty, dark part of her that just wanted to wipe the floor with this bastard. She'd only let it out the past couple days and the _incident_ a few months ago.

She felt her fangs lengthen, her tail release itself from her waist, and the two tiny flames on her head and one on the end of her tail. Her fingernails lengthened themselves to talons, and an unearthly roar tore itself from her throat, in chorus with sixteen others.

There were five others beside her: a girl with dragon wings, another girl taking on the shape of a wolf, and the other three remained mainly the same. Together they ran, well in Emiko's case, flew, to the rendezvous point near the creek.

As though through glass, she heard Azazel's condescending tone giving a speech. This certainly wasn't going to fly with them; Hotomi cut him off with a _kunai_ aimed straight for his throat, hitting its mark. Making a strangled noise, he pulled it from his neck and the throwing knife, now soaked in blood, hit the ground and the liquid still coming from his throat.

"I understand that you won't stop until you have that little bitch in your custody. And my host needs time to recover. So, for now, _adieu, _but know this: I'll be back." With that, he smashed the twisted mirror where the little twelve-year-old girl was being held and disappeared into thin air.

She reached back into herself, pulling the human side back out. The demonic features receded, tail entwining itself around her torso, and fatigue washing over her.

"What happened?" she asked, kind of dazed, to Ron.

He nodded, looking to the spot where Azazel once stood. "We won." He grinned at the entire class crookedly. "And we should celebrate."

XXXXX

Shura heard a knock at her door. It was probably either Ron or Yukio, and she was leaning towards the former, due to the fact that the kid would lose his head if it wasn't attached at times. She told him that smoking marijuana might do that to the kid but… well, far be it from her to run the kid's life. She wasn't his mom, just his legal guardian, and a crappy, absent one at that. Letting him come to Japan, to True Cross, made her question her judgment a little bit. She unlocked and opened the door to see she wasn't wrong about who it was. Acid green eyes stared back at her violet ones.

"Man, I really should keep my keys somewhere I'll remember them," he explained tiredly. She belatedly noticed singed holes in his shirt and internally cursed. They were battling with a _Demon King_, fighting for their lives, and _she _was polishing her sword collection and idly fretting.

"Was anyone hurt?" she asked worriedly.

"No but a lot of us are ready to pass out. And don't pretetend you didn't care, I can smell your worry from here." He pulled out a couple American beers from the fridge, passing one to her and putting the other back when he caught her glare. "So, I was thinking…" he began.

"I thought I smelled something," she joked.

He ignored her jibe. "That since we just had one mother of a battle, and the first sign of actual teamwork besides, that I could use this place to have a party tonight."

She sighed. "I don't know, Ron. It's not that I don't trust you… well; I actually don't trust you to hold a party here. There are seventeen of you and Yukio and I have a double date with Rin and Shiemi. That means you'd be unsupervised."

He shrugged. "That's easy. I'll ask Maya's dad to watch us."

Well that idea was hilarious. "As if! He's a _Demon King_, not exactly a moral pillar."

"He's thousands of years old, and if you've seen how he watches over Maya, you'd see he won't let anything bad happen."

"Are you talking about the part where he abandons her when she was six to fake his own death, or the part where she's always shooting him a death glare? No."

"How about this? I train four hours a day for the next week if I have the party tonight."

The fact that she could constantly bash on him for four hours a day for seven days was appealing. "Fine. But the bedrooms are off-limits."

He grinned. "You're the best, Shura."

She returned the gesture. "You better know it."

**A/N: Well, I hope you know what that means! Next chapter, there shall be a party! And reviews give me steam to help me write faster, so please type in that pretty little box! I love reviews of all kinds, even anonymous ones.**


	16. Dancing, Loud Music, and Kids Making Out

**A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews! Here, without further ado, I bring you the party scene, complete with socially awkward teens! I only own Iblis and Maya. Oh, the songs mentioned will be listed in order at the end.**

Maki heard her phone ring. Huh. Mephisto gave each student in the demon class a cell phone for personal communication, but they were hardly ever used. She checked the caller ID: Ron Ferus. Picking up, she said in (crappy) English, "Hello?"

"Wow, Maki. A piece of advice: stick to Japanese. Well, anyway, I'm having a party at my place tonight in about… an hour. You wanna come?"

Well, what the hell? "Sure. Where do you live?"

"I'm apartment 515 in the brick building just off campus. The entire freak society's gonna be there."

"As in…?"

She could imagine him rolling his inhumanly green eyes at her comment. "The class, genius. Obviously the lack of brains runs in the demon side." She would be insulted if anyone else talked to her like this, but she knew that was just how Ron was: no filter between brain and mouth.

"Sure. I'll be there."

XXXXX

The apartment was clean. _Finally,_ Ron added as an afterthought. Calling sixteen kids and a condescending teacher was not a fun job, but he had to do it if he was going to have a party. Not to mention making all the food and trying to find a CD that wasn't rap. He settled on one of Mixer's mixes and put it in the port of Shura's stereo system. Soon he heard the doorbell ring. Opening it, he saw the 'Royalty' first: the children of the Demon Kings, along with Iblis wearing another t-shirt, but unlike most of them, it didn't advertise an American comic book such as X-Men or Deadpool, but rather a black one with a logo for a band called 'A Day to Remember'.

Instead of a customary 'hello', he just said, "Please tell me Shura has Yuengling in the fridge." Nodding, he went into it and took one out. "No offense to any native-born Japanese here, but their beer sucks."

When he next opened the door, he saw the other kids, along with Tsukino and the kid they were protecting. "I thought you weren't coming," Ron said in confusion. The water demon made it quite clear he wanted to stay in his dorm room and catch up with his sister.

"Well, Rei here said she wanted to thank all the people here." Before even noticing, the said 12-year-old disappeared to Iblis' side.

"You remind me of the person who took me. You both have this… scary power. You won't take me back to him, will you?"

Noticing the girl, Iblis said, "No, I'm nothing like my brother. Actually, all things considered, I'm surprised you'd go near me, being Egyn's daughter and all. And I have this power because I'm like your captor, only more powerful."

Ron could see Tsukino's eyes widen. "E-Egyn's _daughter?_"

"Yes, like you. Apparently, your father got sentimental." His face split into a grin. "So, what kind of party is this? There's supposed to be dancing and loud music and teens making out in the closet." He spotted something on the wall. "You mind if I take care of the music part? At least to start, that is."

He nodded. "Go ahead. I haven't used that guitar for a while anyway."

A string of notes and chords flowed out of the instrument almost instantly as he started singing in English.

"_Hey, darling  
I hope you're good tonight.  
And I know you don't feel right when I'm leaving  
Yeah, I want it, but no, I don't need it  
tell me something sweet to get my by  
'Cause I can't come back home 'till they're singing  
la, la la la, la la la.  
'Til everyone's singing."_

The song continued to the end, when he relinquished the guitar to Huyu and he began a set of Japanese songs, and he was surprisingly good.

"Hey," said Maya, out of her usual baggy clothes and in a fitted black t-shirt with a pattern of roses and a pair of jeans.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You know, Dad _did _say about dancing. Would you like to?" she motioned to the central living area where most of the kids were sitting awkwardly, just holding their drinks, not bothering talking to anyone, aside from Mikada and Mayu, who were making feeble attempts at chatting people up.

"Why not?" he led her to the makeshift dance floor, where, admittedly, they pretty much swayed back and forth.

XXXXX

Katio was never really one for parties. It was a waste of time better spent on more important things, such as training, seeing as the lot of them may well have died a few hours ago. Tsukino was introducing Maki and Rei, tiny groups had formed on the floor as they danced, and everyone seemed to be having a hell of a time. Part of him wanted to join them, open up. The other part, however, told him not to get attached.

"You don't like this whole scene, either, do you?" asked Elody, surprisingly in a purple sundress for once in place of her Victorian-era outfit.

"Not really a people person. What's your excuse?"

"The world moves too fast. Up there," she gestured to the singing redhead, "the song he's singing is about cutting. The last line he said was '_I found God in a kitchen knife'_. If someone dared intentionally harm themselves when I'm from, they'd be sent to an asylum. Now, they make songs about it. It's confusing. I want to go back, but now I can't."

"I know it's probably hard, but like you said, there's no going back. Just move forward." He moved to one of the groups, with Emiko, Huyu, Daichi, Kitkat, Mayako, and Ron.

XXXXX

"So why do you like using bows and arrows and _kunais_? Why don't you make a sword or something?" Came the voice of Mikada from her left. Hotomi was initially talking and dancing with Cassidy, Okami, Tsukino, Maki, and Rei, but the pink-haired girl and Mayu had butted in after Ryuu left to talk with Akashi for some reason.

"Because you don't get hurt as easily in long-range fighting," she replied gritting her teeth. She had been asked several questions by the two immature girls: when she found out about being half-demon, if she read, why her hair was purple, how she learned to use her powers, how she did learning English, if she could teach them English when she said she spoke it pretty well, along with a massive series that she forgot. She was frankly getting sick of the two. _Maybe… _she thought as a plot formed in her head. Extracting her hand from her pocket and outstretching it somewhat to the two girls, she willed cold air to flow through her fingers to the intruders.

"It's so cold!"

"I _hate _cold!"

They ran to their next victim, hoping they wouldn't come back."

Okami, noticing what she did, looked up at her, wearing a sly grin. "You little ice witch," she mockingly accused.

"I am no such thing! Witches summon the abilities of demons through a complex series of seals and contracts with the demon they are associated with. My powers are completely natural." Her father had explained the difference when she was younger. She missed her father: the pale blue/purple hair that matched hers and skin seemingly washed of color, and a cool exterior. She missed him, but explicit instructions were given—no ties to the outside world.

"Save us the novel, will ya? Iblis says we start on mythology classes tomorrow." Akashi and Ryuu had returned.

"Why?" Hotomi couldn't help to ask.

"Because you guys were so shocked when Azazel disappeared and reappeared. Didn't you ever hear of Hades' Helm of Darkness? Myths are based on fact. Of course the world didn't run on blood, Quetzalcoatl wasn't all that good, as you saw a couple hours ago, Pluto wasn't really in charge of that much involving precious materials, and so on, but still, you should at least pay attention to stuff like that."

"Coming from Loki's son," Ryuu deadpanned.

"At least you know enough mythology to make the connection. Iblis was Prometheus in Greece, so people loved him, the good Titan. Wolf demons were Artemis' familiars, who curiously enough, was the queen of the wolf demons at the time. Seriously, the list could go on for days."

"What about my dad?" Maki asked quietly.

"What _wasn't _your dad? Kronos, Uranus, Apophis, you name the bad guy, that was him. Of course, they didn't get his identity right except for the Jews and the Christians, but humans knew enough to hate him."

Huyu had finished another set of quiet acoustic Japanese songs, so he handed the guitar off to Iblis.

"_When there's nowhere else to run  
is there room for one more son?  
one more son?  
if you can hold on  
if you can hold on, hold on_

_I wanna stand up, I wanna let go  
You know, you know  
No, you don't, you don't  
I wanna shine on, in the hearts of men  
I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand  
Another head aches, another heart breaks,  
I'm so much older than I can take  
and my affection, well it comes and goes  
I need direction to affection, no no no no_

_Help me out, yeah  
you know you gotta help me out, yeah  
oh don't you put me on the back burner  
you know you gotta help me out, yeah"_

Cassidy's eyes lit up. "I know this song! _I got soul but I'm not a soldier,_" she warbled somewhat out of tune. Maki joined in the dissonant chorus, soon by three or four others.

XXXXX

Maya's group had finally broken some ice. Of course, the 'Earth Twins' didn't really talk to anyone but each other, but Huyu had struck up a conversation with Rei (was there anyone he _didn't_ get along with?) as Tsukino, Ron, Emiko, and she spoke.

"So your dad actually sings?"

"Yeah, but I didn't really get his skill. He used to sing me to sleep when reading a chapter of a comic book or _Rurouni Kenshin_ didn't work."

"At least you two _had _someone growing up," muttered Emiko bitterly.

"Oh, come on, Em, lighten up! We just took on one of the Demon Kings! And won!" Ron elbowed her playfully. "And you don't have to deal with _Shura_." The four shuddered. Another string of chords and notes indicative of her father's playing began.

"And this song should take care of it," she smiled. "I love the way my dad does this one."

"_I'm headed down South to the land of the pines  
And I'm thumbing my way into North Caroline  
Starin' up the road  
Pray to God I see headlights  
I made it to the coast in seventeen hours  
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers  
And I'm hoping for Raleigh  
I can see my baby tonight."_

Now Maya joined in with a harmony of a sort and Huyu, taking a hint, joined in as well.

"_So rock me mama like a wagon wheel  
Rock me mama any way you feel  
Heeeey mama rock me.  
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain,  
Rock me mama like a southbound train  
Heeeey mama rock me."_

_Maybe… I might like it here,_ Maya thought as Ron joined in, forming a (crappy) chorus. _If I don't hurt anyone anymore._

**A/N: First things first, here's the list of songs:**

_**If it means a lot to you**_**—A Day to Remember (ADTR)**

**(this is the one with only one line) **_**Angela Baker and my obsession with fire**_**—Senses Fail**

_**All these things that I've done**_**—The Killers (if you don't know this band, look up this song and 'Mr. Brightside. Oh, and 'Somebody told me')**

_**Wagon wheel**_**—Old Crow Medicine Show (the way my brother sings this one gives it more of a pop/indie feel. And check my brother's band out through the link on my profile)**

**Okay, I know, a lot of lyrics, but I at least added something in there that was relevant! And I wouldn't have added 'Wagon Wheel', but my bro and I sang it as a duet just messing around the other day and I like the way he sings it. **

**Please review! They help my brain juices flow and let me know where I need help!**


	17. Egypt and Amahara

**A/N: Here's another chapter for you guys! I know the Rin/Shiemi ship doesn't really have many supporters, so I'm just warning you, the last section has so much Rin/Shiemi fluff, that it bought out Build-A-Bear. Oh, and one more thing concerning last chapter: I am so sorry if I implied ANYTHING between Ryuu and Akashi. They practiced their time control powers. It's no secret that I hate yaoi, so you will not find it in any of my stories. I only own Iblis and Maya (who isn't really in this chap)**

The next day was pretty much hell, especially because Iblis had gotten in Slutty's Yuengling stash. _Note to self: no more drinking on weeknights._ Well, at least he had most of the day off, since his little brother's girlfriend was doing most of the work. He checked his watch: 6:00. She should be here by now… he heard a squeak down the hall.

He walked out, hoping it wasn't one of the normal cram school kids. He'd heard that they've been giving his students a hard time… _What are you thinking? YOUR students? You're just helping Samael so once we kill Dad you get to share the throne. Don't get attached, especially to your daughter again. You forgot her once and you can do it again._

Finding the damsel in distress, he helped her up. She was about twenty-one, wearing a pink kimono, with curly blond hair that reached her (quite ample) chest and massive green eyes. Her face automatically turned red.

"I'm so sorry, Iblis-san! I know I should've managed my time better, but Rin and I were out late last night because Shura's adoptive little brother wanted to have a party at her place and we wanted them to have fun and I know that I was supposed to come in today to teach your students mythology and—" she started tearing up.

"Hey, slow down and catch your breath. You're only a couple minutes late. Moriyama Shiemi, correct?" He couldn't help himself. When he first came to Assiah, in West Virginia shortly before World War Two began, he learned that manners regarding women were usually enforced. Though when he came, he looked like a college student, he was taught to say 'ma'am' and watch his language. The habit had stuck, and at the moment, blushing and on the verge of tears, she looked so much like Misao had when they had met. He could imagine her with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a sky blue kimono, running into his shop, soaked to the bone… _It's not back then anymore. This is Shiemi, not Misao_.

She nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Come on."

XXXXX

Shiemi honestly didn't know what to think or expect of anything, really. She was a little more comfortable around people now than she was five years ago, but she wasn't exactly a social butterfly. All she knew was for the past week, Rin had come home complaining about his 'asshole fire brother' and, sometimes, 'those damn kids'. The last thing she expected was the scene in front of her.

Ten students, relatively normal-looking aside from tails and ears, were sitting in a classroom quietly chatting amongst themselves, or reading. Like a normal class. If a normal class consisted of the offspring of the nine most powerful demonic beings in existence.

"Good morning class!" she called, attempting to get their attention. This only resulted in the one with scary red eyes, the one with the brown hair in a ribbon, and the one with pink hair looking up.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Iblis, a gentle smile on his face. "Let me take care of this one, huh?" She stepped aside, letting the redhead demon call them to attention. He slammed his fist on his desk, resulting in a small divot. The class snapped to attention. "You should teach Moriyama-sensei with more respect," he scolded. "Do you really think the poor girl wants to put up with you for an hour? You know very well that you should have had your notebooks out at six o'clock sharp!"

A chorus of apologies came from the class.

"Now, Miss Moriyama, if you would be so kind as to begin your class…"

She certainly didn't expect one of the Demon Kings to be almost… gentlemanly.

She cleared her throat. "Hello, class. My name is Moriyama Shiemi and I'll be teaching you all mythology. We'll begin with reviewing the mythology of the Egyptians and how they tie in to the Demon Kings, God, the angels, and so on. First off, one thing it would do you well to know was that the Ten Plagues really did happen. When Ramses refused to free the slaves, God did do whatever possible to bring them to the Promised Land. Who knows the order of the Plagues?" she searched around for a raised hand. The only one who responded was the normal-looking one, who Rin told her was Mephisto's son. She thought his name was Akashi. She called on him.

"That's easy enough. Blood. Frogs. Gnats. Flies. Killing of the Egyptian beasts. Boils. Hail. Locusts. Darkness. Slaying of the firsborn."

"Correct. Who would care to elaborate further on these?"

Huyu raised his hand. "The River Nile was turned into blood, making it unable to use. Frogs infested the entire country. Dust was transformed into gnats and they covered every living thing, be it beast or human. Homes were filled with swarms of flies. The Egyptians' livestock were killed. The Egyptians, who were vain and proud, were covered with sores and boils. The heaviest hail in recorded history fell on Egypt with fire. Locusts killed their crops. A heavy darkness fell upon the land, when the sun didn't rise, the stars didn't shine, and the moon was dark. Finally, He sent the Angel of Death to kill the firstborn of every family. The Pharaoh lost his son. For this reason, beset by grief, he let the Hebrews go."

"Yes! Very good!" she beamed at him. When her grandmother was teaching her this material, it flowed in one ear and out the other. She'd much rather hear of the Amahara Garden, the Garden of Eden, or the land flowing with milk and honey. "Now, we will be learning of the Ancient Egyptian gods and monsters. Can anyone name a figure of Ancient Egyptian mythology that can translate to the world of exorcists?"

Emiko raised her hand. "Thoth was Samael, Nephthys was Egyn, Geb was Amaimon, and..."

"And Bes is Belial in the morning," laughed Tsukino. Emiko glared at him angrily.

"_What_ did you say?" she asked through gritted teeth, preparing to stand up and strangle him.

He shifted in his seat. "That Belial is an extremely fearsome and powerful being, to be treated with respect."

"That's what I _thought _you said."

XXXXX

Kitkat was actually sort of… enjoying learning about the beliefs of past cultures. How the Demon Kings and Satan translated to gods in goddesses in polytheist religion was intriguing to her. She heard a knock on the classroom door and Moriyama-sensei answered it, showing Rin, who gave her a peck on the cheek.

She decided she liked Moriyama-sensei. She was nice and didn't constantly degrade them or push them too hard, and so far the harshest thing she handed out was a reprimand to Tsukino-san for being disrespectful and interrupting class. She could tell by Iblis' eyes that he wanted to do a lot more than that and the water demon.

"Can I talk to Kitkat?" he asked her, a mischievous light playing in his eyes.

She nodded, smiling.

"Come on." She followed him

"So, Okumura-sensei, what did you want?"

"Well, I have a favor to ask," he turned reddish, pulling something from his coat pocket. A box for a ring. He opened it, showing a silver ring with a soft pink flower that turned a light green towards the end, and in the center rested a small diamond. "I'm going to ask Shiemi to marry me and I want to make it special. And she loves gardens, so I was wondering if you could…"

"Make the Garden of Amahara for her?" She didn't really have that much experience with flowers, but she thought the two deserved something nice to start their lives together. "Well, I'll try. If…" she grinned, "my sessions get cut down to three times a week for a month."

He grinned. "Done!" He led her to a meadow in the middle of the woods on the True Cross campus. It was clear of trees, so she didn't have to take care of any old growth.

First, she took care of the ones she had more experience with—roses, tulips, and the sort. She formed a path lined with roses to a center area where she created a circle of orchids (those took quite an amount of energy to create). She created several more of those paths, each lined with a different flower: tulips, carnations, azaleas, poinsettias, daffodils, Easter lilies, and tiger lilies. The empty spaces she filled in with a mix of leafy plants and smaller flowers, enough to cause small pops of color among the green. Then she tried something she hadn't before: used her powers to kill the grass on the pathways and grow small wildflowers on the paths. When she finished, she wanted to pass out.

Checking back on her, Rin picked her up in a hug so tight, she could hardly breathe. "Thank you so much! She'll love it!"

XXXXX

When Shiemi came to their two-bedroom apartment, Rin was late. She sighed. Since Rin was raised in a Catholic monastery, their relationship had hardly evolved past chaste kisses goodnight and they even lived in separate rooms. 'Not until we marry', he had said. They had been dating for five years and he hadn't proposed to her yet. And Rin had been coming home late, and tonight was no exception. When she heard a key click in the lock, finding Rin's (happier than usual) goofy grin, she threw herself at him. "You're home!"

He smiled. "Yeah. Hey, come on. I want to show you something. It's a surprise." They walked out of their apartment complex together, and when they reached campus, he pulled off his tie and wrapped it around her eyes. She tried to pull the cloth down, but he stopped her. "Shh. No peeking." She wasn't sure about this childish impulse, but she left it be.

After an eternity of walking (towards the end, she could smell trees and… flowers?) he told her to take it off. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was nothing less than a fairyland, with paths of wildflowers leading to a central area and hundreds of species of plants surrounding them. The place was lit by ivy poles with floating blue flames on top and fireflies dancing through the air. It was, quite possibly, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Together, they walked to the center, where Rin in his suit and tie he had put back on got on one knee. She felt herself tearing up. Could this… really be happening? But when she saw the box that he opened to the most perfect ring in existence, she knew it was.

"Shiemi Moriyama, I met you five years ago in the most magical garden in existence. But it wasn't because of the plants. It was you. You looked so beautiful and happy in there that I thought you were a garden fairy, because you were too perfect to be human. And since then… since that first date, nothing has made me any less sure of my conviction of one thing. I love you, Shiemi, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No matter what. Will you be my wife?"

In tears of happiness, she put on the ring. "Yes. Yes!"

Getting up, relief plain on his face, he lifted her and spun her and circles, finally kissing her. "You have made me the happiest man alive, Shiemi."

**A/N: You will see everyone (except Takara) at some point throughout the story, so expect to be seeing some Izumo. **

**Also, in case you didn't get Tsukino's joke, Bes is known for being rather… unappealing.**

**Reviews make me happier than Rin at the end of this chapter!**


	18. Oops

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! And to answer them: **

_**Zera of the Half Moon**_**: If you're talking about the Kane Chronicles, I agree. He is epic.**

_**YuiKudo**_**: Thanks for liking that scene! I almost vomited from the amount of fluff I managed to put in that sucker (not really)**

_**Whitelilygirl**_**: Well, yeah, he is, but Tsukino was making fun of the ugly part. (and to answer your previous review, you'll just have to see ;)) **

**I only own Iblis and Maya**

Ron wasn't sure what to expect from his first solo training session. From what he gathered, Iblis wasn't exactly _gentle_ when it came to giving advice. So when he walked into the training room he was assigned to, he was preparing himself for a military-style chewing-out. Worse than Shura, even. But what he _didn't _expect was his pink-haired legal guardian to be the one standing on the floor, a ring of twenty or so targets standing at random spots around the room, Shura holding a pair of pistols. Were they…

"They're not the ones that hold your power, if that's what you were expecting," she tossed the guns to him.

"And you won't trust me with them because…?" He couldn't help but wonder his guardian's choices at the moment. He's made it quite clear he could be responsible with them.

"Don't act like I'm persecuting you, kid. When I trained Rin—God help that kid—I kept his sword out of his reach until I was sure he could control the flames. So I'm doing the same thing with you. Unlike the other students, your power mostly comes from weapons, so I'm training you using your power and your guns separately until I think you can handle them simultaneously. C'mon, kid, trust me for once. I know I wasn't exactly _there _after your dad died, so let me be here for you now."

"Fine."

She grinned one of her terrifying grins that he had learned the hard way not to trust ('Come on, Ron, eating wings so spicy you have to sign a waiver to eat will be _fun_.' Not to mention a dozen other fiascos) and led him to the center of the room. "Okay, kid. Here's how it'll go down: one of your targets will light up at a time. You'll have to hit the target before the next one comes up. But here's the catch: once I see you're getting the hang of it, they'll start moving. Eventually, we'll move to multiple targets, but not today." She moved to a catwalk and hit a remote, hitting the lights, and saying, "Begin."

The first blue light came from his left. He promptly hit the target. Not exactly in the bull's-eye, but close enough. The next came from directly in front, and he shot that one, too, almost in the exact center. He heard a buzzing and saw a red light on top of him, quickly moving down. Quickly pulling the trigger, he hoped he didn't have any more 'surprises' like that again. A hanging target lit green and swept across the room. Then a white light signaled one from his right moving towards him quickly. Needless to say, he barely took care of either target. The exercise continued for another ten minutes before he heard a horn from the catwalk and saw the lights come up.

"Not bad for your first try, Pipsqueak, but we should work on your accuracy."

.o.O.o.

When Huyu walked into his designated training room, he saw a woman about Rin-sensei's age with long purple hair pulled into a ponytail and crimson eyes looking him over critically. "So you're my first student?" she scoffed. "I guess I have my work cut out for me. Onryo Huyu, correct?" he nodded. "I'm Kamiki Izumo and I'm stuck with helping you with your summoning skills." She gestured to the ground, where a summoning circle was painted. "Your folder says you are the son of Azazel and are skilled in seeing and summoning spirits. Show me."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a needle that was given for summoning familiars, and pricked his finger. Deciding not to show off just yet, he brought forth something small—a pair of teenagers, both girls in kimonos. He put them around two hundred years old.

"Not very impressive or skilled. I know from experience how powerful children of the Demon Kings are. Perhaps you're just a runt."

Usually, it was difficult to make him mildly irritated, let alone angry, but somehow this superior girl managed to make his blood boil. Pricking his finger again, he decided to really impress her to shut her mouth and stop her 'I'm better than you' personality. Letting loose, out came samurai, hitokiris, and ninjas, all holding their respective weapons. However, pulling out so many ghosts at once put a toll on him. Gasping, looking up at her defiantly, though on his hands and knees to regain his strength, he asked, "Am I still a runt?"

Running those infuriating red eyes over his frame, she finally shrugged, saying, "I've seen worse."

.o.O.o.

Emiko decided that of all the teachers training today, she picked the short straw. She would rather have Rin training her over this. Hell, she'd rather have _Shura_ teaching her. But no. Somehow, she had gotten even _higher _up on the universe's shit list. Why? Because she had freaking Iblis teaching her today. Human-loving, strict enough to be an American Marine, Iblis. And sure enough, once she walked in the door, the tattooed, redheaded figure of her teacher was waiting for her, his flame-colored eyes watching her every move.

"Okay. I was going to start with working on your control over the elements, but to put it bluntly, I don't want Samael on my ass because I ruined one of his precious training rooms in a matter of minutes. So let's work on your summoning instead. As daughter of Belial, you can bring forth any dragon as your familiar. It doesn't matter what form—European, Chinese, Egyptian, whatever. So let's work with that first. I understand that the familiar you summon the most is an eight-headed dragon named Orochi. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Summon him. But you'll be doing it in a combat situation. In other words, be prepared for the worst." He stepped behind a glass door into a miniature bunker of sorts, at which point she began to worry.

The lights automatically dimmed as she pricked her finger, preparing to say the incantation. Then something hit her. Sure enough, on her dark gray shirt, a blotch of bright purple paint sat on the sleeve. She heard another paint gun fire, thankfully dodging the blue projectile. She began saying the incantation. "_Orochi, servant of-_" she was cut off by something hard hitting the back of her head. _Dammit_. She'd have to 'see' the paintballs coming and say the incantation at the same time, something she didn't have much experience doing. Near the rafters and from behind, she heard the telltale hissing, cuing another five cannons to unload on her. she'd have to do this fast if she stood a chance.

"_Orochi, servant of Belial, hear my…" _another paintball hit her, this time in the small of her back, followed by one hitting her in the gut, then the back of the knee, forcing her to the ground, then one she could see headed straight for her neck…

A blast of red fire burnt the paintball as Iblis came running to her rescue, turning off the simulation. "Damn, kid. You should really pay attention to what's going on around you. You look like a modern art exhibit. Clean up. I know what we should work with to start."

.o.O.o.

Maki was thankful, for once, for being the daughter of Satan. Because only Rin could really train her to use her flames because he knew her limits, she was always put under her elder brother's teaching for individual training sessions.

When she entered the training area, she was somewhat dismayed to see that there were no candles.

"So, sis, I've decided that we've moved past the candles, and we're going on to something a _little _more advanced." Rin (who was in a ridiculously good mood) appeared from behind her.

"What did you have in mind?"

He grinned even wider (if that was possible). "Targets." That sounded easy enough. "But here's the catch: it's not like a giant wave of flame. It's more like a laser. It's supposed to build your accuracy." He set up tiny bull's-eyes around the room. "I want you to make the smallest flame you can manage and shoot it. "

That still sounded kind of easy, but when she saw they were all set up at least three meters (A/N: 10 feet? I suck at metric) away from her.

"Okay. Let's start."

The first one, she hit easy, with pinpoint precision in the exact center, with a tiny flame. The same happened with the next ten or so. But paying attention to how small she made the flame was slowly draining her, and she couldn't bring herself to make the thin flame anymore. The next one, she attempted to make another tiny flame, operative word being _attempted_. The entire target, about half a meter in diameter, went up in blue flames. She felt Rin's disapproving glare on her.

"Uhm… sorry?" she nervously grinned and rubbed the back of her head.

.o.O.o.

Daichi was mildly disappointed. He was told to report to individual lessons, which meant he wouldn't be able to see his half-sister. Though he would deny it to anyone who asked, the small sixteen-year-old was growing on him. _Like a tumor._ He was able to be somewhat entertained by Kitkat, and even her dry humor was beginning to amuse him. Walking into the training room he was told to report to, he was mildly dismayed to see Shura, hoping someone with a _shred _of humanity would be training him. True, the pink-haired Exorcist was human by blood, but demonic in some manners, such as her apathy and occasional cruelty.

"Well, look who decided to show up." The woman chucked her empty beer can at him, hitting him on the forehead. _At least she wasn't boring._

"What are you going to have me do today? Pushups? Jumping jacks?" he couldn't help but to let a little sarcasm bite into his words (a side effect of spending time with Kitkat, no doubt).

"You tell me." She retreated to a catwalk, and suddenly, a jet of flame started flying at his face. Thinking fast, he summoned a giant pillar in front of him to block it. He could, however, still feel the heat through the pillar.

"A new game?" he grinned. "This should be fun."

A smaller jet came from above, and he broke a piece off as he dove, shielding himself with the small block of earth. Once that stopped, another began, this one from his right, moving it quickly, he protected himself from the blow. Another came from the other side while the first jet was still going. He felt a small amount of panic wash over him. Before the searing heat had a chance to touch his skin, it immediately dissipated, and he looked up at Shura.

"How was I supposed to block it? I can't block two jets of flame at once."

"That's what you were supposed to find out, jackass."

.o.O.o.

"So you're the wolf one." Wine-colored eyes appraised Okami haughtily. "I'm your teacher, Kamiki Izumo, and I'm supposed to help you work with your familiar today. Though you already pretty much look like a lost cause."

And people called _her _a bitch.

"Alright. Summon your familiar. But by the looks of it, it's probably something small and pathetic, like a greenman or something like that." Hardly.

Slicing her palm, she muttered the incantation that summoned her familiar. A large, majestic white wolf, standing to her waist, appeared before them.

_My lady. Is there something I can assist you with? Need I… dispose of waste? _He turned his head towards Izumo

She chuckled at him_. Though amusing, it is hardly necessary at the moment._

"Not bad, I suppose. It's not the best or most powerful familiar I've ever seen summoned, but no one's perfect. Especially not half-breeds."

Okami clenched her fists, trying to keep her temper down. However, her familiar felt no such inclination. Hunkering down, it growled as its fur bristled.

"Hmm. You might want to keep it under control, as well. If you had the slightest idea of what you were doing, though, I guess it would help."

It charged Izumo, and Okami could hear the string of curses that the wolf was 'yelling'. For the first time, she saw something other than criticism in the teacher's eyes. Just before it reached her, it pounced, deliberately jumping _over_ her, grabbing a gold hoop on the ceiling of the back of the room, dropping it at her feet, and returning to its master.

Recovering, the look returned. "Perhaps it's not as pathetic as I thought."

.o.O.o.

All three candles were completely consumed by bloody flames as Mayako was tearing her hair out. "Goddamnit! Every time! Every single, freaking time!"

A wave of Iblis' hand, and the flames dissipated. She looked at him furiously. "If you had a shred of patience, it wouldn't be this hard. I already put a seal on your powers so what happened a few months ago wouldn't happen again. All that you have to do is apply yourself, though you aren't really known for that."

The look heated. "Applied myself? For the past ten years, Mom and I have been working our _asses _off to make sure Soshito and Kenmochi could have their next meal, their clothes, everything! And meanwhile, you're God knows where, living it up, letting us think you died in a car crash!"

"Do you think I _wanted _to leave you and Misao? Satan would've killed you. Both of you."

"Maybe that would've been better. I would've died _human_, not some mindless beast," she spat. The images of her brothers floated into her memory: bright red hair, gray-green eyes, and carefree smiles as if there were no problems and the world was perfect.

The look he gave her, so sad, almost hurt. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't warn you. I'm sorry that the people you love had to pay for it, but life isn't always fair." He made a move to embrace her, but she recoiled. This man ruined her life, and now he waltzes back, expecting there to be no hard feelings.

"Whatever. Let's just get back to these candles." She sat back down concentrating.

.o.O.o.

"She hates me. You should've seen the way she looked at me, like _I'm _the reason her family's dead. I've tried to make amends, but she's so stubborn," Iblis vented to Samael.

"You could've at least warned her. You had six years to tell her about this world. Drink some tea. It'll help you calm down." He gestured to the kettle on his desk

This was typical of his brother. He always acted as if _things_ were the solution to every problem that existed. "Weren't you listening?! She was _six_; I couldn't do that to a _kid_. What was I supposed to tell her, that the monsters under the bed were real but she shouldn't worry because I controlled them and I'm pretty much fairy tale material?"

Samael rolled his eyes. "How would that be any better than the way I raised Akashi? I raised him in Gehenna, in the center of it all, and look how he turned out: a fine young man, if I do say so myself."

"But he never had human ties to start with."

"After all, what _possessed _you to fall for a mortal woman, let alone marry her and have not one child, but _three_? You said after your son caused the Great Chicago Fire that you were done with the mortal world, done with having children if it meant suffering for Assiah."

"You never met Misao, did you?" He remembered everything about her perfectly, which wasn't difficult, because she was perfect.

"Well, I have an idea for your students' next mission, but of course you must bring the other teachers."

"Okay, what is it?"

That grin. That shit-eating grin that usually meant stuff was about to go straight to hell (no pun intended).

"You'll find out soon enough. Eins, Zwei, Drei!" He snapped his fingers and Iblis found himself sucked into a vacuum and free-falling before landing in a seemingly unfamiliar place with his students, Rin, and Shura.

"I fucking _hate _my brother."

**A/N: Okay, people, if you watched the show **_**EUReKA**_** on SyFy, just think early 'Season Four', because that's where I got the inspiration for this chapter**

**Please Review! :D**


	19. Guys and Dolls

**A/N: Yeah, quick update, I know, but I have nothing really better to do. And, uh, Wahs, I kinda made Ron a closet twenties geek. I only own Iblis and Maya.**

"Where the _hell _are we?" Emiko looked to Iblis. "What the _hell _did you do?!"

He put his hands up, as if to defend himself. "Hey, don't look at me. This is Samael's fault."

"It still doesn't explain where we are."

Looking around, Ron smiled. "The good ol' U.S. of A. Good to be home."

Iblis rolled his eyes at him. "New York City. 1927, to be exact."

The grin on Ron's face widened. "No freaking way! Please say we can go to a speakeasy. We don't have to worry about Al Capone, do we? I mean, I think just you might be able to handle him, but…"

Iblis rolled his eyes. "Ol' Scarface was from Chicago. I already told you we were in New York. You should be more worried about the Bowery Boys, Swamp Angels, Slaughter Houses, Dead Rabbits, Short Tails, and the Plug Uglies. They were the big five—the Five Points." Snickers cracked up through the class, and even Emiko was no exception. Who would name themselves the 'Dead Rabbits' and expect to be feared? "You laugh at the names, but you _did not _fuck around with the Mafia. Especially of the Sicilian variety. Joe Bananas was one sick fuck. He pretty much _established _the rules for joining the mafia. Blood ties to the old country, a Sicilian upbringing, and a blood oath."

"So how did it compare to, say, samurai or any other warriors that we should fear them?" Emiko couldn't help but ask. They didn't really sound all that tough.

"Family was the base of each gang. They stuck together and didn't sell each other out, didn't abandon each other. They used fear tactics. Katio and Ron, learn more about them. It'll help you learn your powers better. And besides, have you ever seen a Molotov Cocktail work? Now you see it, now you don't. Not to mention the Tommy guns, the Icepicks, the sawed-off shotguns, the stilettos…"

"Aren't those a type of shoes?" cut in Mikada.

"Hardly. They're a tiny knife, thin and about four inches long. Enough for a clean murder… or a Sicilian necktie. Anyway, you're making yourselves easy bait walking around like that. Girls go with Shura. Shura, find a store for you to root through. They could use some flapper dresses, and don't forget the wigs. Boys, come with me."

XXXXX

"So, why do we need new clothes?" Mikada couldn't help but ask.

She glared. "Oh, because _obviously_ fashion halfway around the world ninety years ago is _exactly _the same as what we have right now."

"Oh. Right."

"Alright. Ready-made clothes were still new in the twenties, so you might have trouble finding something in your size. Just… get a safety pin or something. Report back at the entrance so I can give you all a wig."

An instrumental jazz tune filtered in from the streets outside. Mikada, forced to learn international music trends in school, recognized this one as 'In the Mood', probably one of the best known at the time. She saw a couple, a teenaged girl in a short dress with a black bob, dance with a boy about the same age to the tune.

"Now I see why it was called the 'Roaring Twenties'," she heard Maki say, watching the scene.

"Yup. Nice and peaceful during the day, but nasty at night," Shura said behind them.

Another few couples passed, holding hands, with the occasional peck on the cheek. This was not at all like Japan.

"Women's rights were kinda a new thing, so they started loosening up. You know, smoking in public, talking about their sex lives, stuff like that. Girls like them," she pointed to the dancing girl in the black bob, "were called flappers. They pretty much embodied free spirits at the time. So, of course, if you were the father of a flapper, you were the talk of the town." She had put on a dark violet 'flapper' dress that set off her eyes.

"Then why are we dressing like them?"

"So distinguished people will ignore us," she said as though it should be obvious.

Emiko was wearing a bright red flapper; Mayako, a deep orange; Maki, a blue; Hotomi, a light violet; Elody was wearing a dress the same shade purple as Shura's; Cassidy's, a green; Mayu, a navy blue; Kitkat, a darker green; and Okami, a gray. Picking a bright pink dress that matched her hair, Mikada headed into a changing room.

When they were all finished, Shura led them to a wig rack. Most of them were like the one on the girl she saw dancing. She instructed them all to pull their hair up and under a hairnet.

"Why are we doing this, again?"

"Quit your whining," she said, following her own instructions, finishing off with the wig.

When she looked into the mirror to check her wig, she saw that her eyes weren't their usual yellow; they were a dark blue.

"Iblis put an illusion on you guys. Japanese immigrants were kind of looked down on, so he made you look Caucasian."

"Is there anything else he did before he split us up?"

"Oh, yeah, you guys have been speaking English for the past twenty minutes. You should be thanking him."

XXXXX

"What the—No one said anything about suits!" Huyu heard Rin yell as Iblis stepped out of the dressing room in a suit and fedora.

"Come on. Don't be a wimp. This was pretty much what men wore during the twenties." He tipped his hat. And I still have to teach you guys etiquette. Just remember pretty much one thing—respect the ladies."

After about ten minutes (for him, at least. He never really had to dress up before) the (torturous) suit was finally on. Adjusting his slacks, he decided it was on as good as he would get it. He put on the fedora, stepping out of the dressing room.

So far, though, only Rin, Ron, Iblis, and Akashi were out before him.

"First off, you have to get the lingo right. Unless you're being really respectful, girls are 'dolls'. 'Carry a torch' means to have a crush, you might hear that phrase when we get where we're going."

"Is it a speakeasy?"

Iblis let out a martyred sigh. "Yes. It's a speakeasy run by demons who took a bit of liking to the human world and wanted to make money. We're supposed to get in, kill the demons, and get out."

"What about civilians?"

"You won't hear me say this often, but don't let the civilians don't get hurt. A lot of them are just honest people looking to get away. So whenever we leave, we are not going to contact authorities, either, got it?"

They all nodded. "Okay. We're supposed to rendezvous with Shura in a few minutes. I'll assign you partners for the day, then go out, have fun, and meet at the place I've got marked with demon fire invisible to the normal human eye at about… ten."

**A/N: That's right! Chapter twenty is gonna be the big speakeasy fight scene! And since I just finished the twenties unit in history class a few weeks ago, along with a bit of research, I know for a fact that most of this information is accurate. And why is it in the twenties? Because the twenties were freaking awesome, that's why.**

**Please review! It fuels my brain and that means a quicker update to the fight scene!**


	20. Speakeasy Showdown

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I had to decide who I wanted the villains to be, so I had to do a little research. Oh, and happy Valentine's Day!**

**I only own Iblis, Maya, and Alukah**

_White. _

_A lone room with white walls, a tiny white desk, and nothing more. The bright color blinded eight-year-old Emiko, who had escaped into the woods surrounding the orphanage, along with the isolated building a hundred meters away. Rough hands shoved her into the pristine room, the 'punishment room', which had barely seen any wear. She fought the people restraining her, lashing out with claws and tail, but it was no use. A backhand from the head warned her of what would happen if she didn't comply. She merely fought harder. _

_Orders were issued, and suddenly she was alone, with the disgusting man. He looked at her hungrily as she realized just what he had in mind._

Emiko came to her senses. _He's dead. I killed him myself. He won't hurt me again._ She looked to her right. "Katio, stop it."

Eerie, unapologetic ruby eyes met hers. "I'm just practicing my abilities. My, my, you really are a piece of work, aren't you? Your mother died at birth, your family wanted naught to do with you, then you were tormented constantly for developing demonic features early. Then, of course, came the crown jewel. One escape attempt, one 'accident' too many and mere isolation or beatings weren't enough. Tell me, which was worse the first time—the physical or emotional pain?"

A sharp gust of wind, followed by an instant, but tiny shot of fatigue, swept through the street. "Shut up!"

He shrugged as he kept walking. "I'm just trying to help, you know. Sooner or later, you'll have to face your fears, because they're a major liability."

XXXXX

The stench of death and mortality hung heavy in the air as Huyu walked through ruined streets, singed brick structures, or shot buildings with crystalline glass fragments reaching to the sidewalk. Apparently, Cassidy smelled the same thing, as she walked to the skeletal remains, examining the wreckage.

He had half a mind to help her, but upon remembering that her senses far surpassed his, he thought better of it. Seeing a woman sweeping the streets, he found a new strategy. "Ma'am?"

The woman actually proved to be a teenage girl with brown hair escaping from a braid, bright blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her pale face. "'Ello? What can I do fer ye?" She spoke with an accent he identified as Irish.

He offered a small smile, so as not to scare the poor girl off. "My friend and I were in town and, well, we're curious as to what happened here."

Her face turned grim. "Gang war 'appened. The ones who did this, they call themselves 'Ge'ennans'. I'm a Catholic girl, so I know full well what that means—demons. Devils. Ye look like a good, respectable person, so ye best heed my warnin'. 'Ey're trouble. Worse 'an a Protestant at St. Peter's Square. Watch yerself." She removed something from her neck—a pewter Celtic-style cross hanging from a leather cord. "Me bishop blessed it. It repels evil. Best o' luck!" She smiled at him, walking away.

"Find anything?" Cassidy asked from behind him.

"Yes."

XXXXX

The sun set on New York City as a tower of red flames shot to the sky. "I guess that's us." Maki turned back and smiled at Tsukino. After his little sister's rescue, he, surprisingly, opened up to other people. He laughed at her lame puns and showed signs of concern for his classmates. She couldn't help but feel happiness for her friend.

"Try not to trip over any stray cats this time," he jabbed, elbowing her. she turned red, remembering the incident a couple of hours ago.

"The thing came out of nowhere," she grumbled as the passed the brownstone buildings. A ten minutes' walk later, and the pair found the source of Iblis' flames: a boarded-up factory with 'Dante's' painted in black above the door. Tentatively, she made a move to knock, but Tsukino stopped her.

"According to appearances, you're my date, so I should open the door. I guess chivalry isn't dead, after all." He knocked on the metal door as a peephole slid open and the man behind inquired him of the password. "Easy is the Descent." The door opened.

Upon entering, Maki expected some either extremely run-down or really high-end place, and this was neither. From a small stage in the back of the room, swing music easily flowing from the instruments. Young couples danced close to the stage in a seemingly effortless rhythm, as adults ordered drinks from the bar. And in every dark corner, there were some couples… fraternizing, and every once in a while, a man drug a woman out in the alley. She turned red, surprised that this kind of activity was done so publicly ninety years ago. Walking through, she bumped into a suited figure with grayish green eyes and bright red hair. He grabbed her wrist. Panicking, she didn't know what to do. She could use her blue flames, but she didn't want to kill the man…

"Relax! It's only me." The illusion of humanity fell away revealing her teacher's familiar orange eyes and glinting red-tipped fangs. "Mayako and Ron, Elody and Akashi, Daichi and Kitkat, and Emiko and Katio are here, too. You should keep an eye out for the others."

"Well, well, well… Look who we have here." They turned and saw a man with prematurely gray hair and bloody red eyes with fangs and pointed ears.

"Alukah," Iblis spat. "What are you doing away from Gehenna?"

His sly grin widened. "Perhaps I should be asking the same thing. After all, after the Chicago incident, you swore never to partake in… Assiah's pleasures if it meant harming your precious humans. But by the looks of it," he placed a finger under Mayako's chin, "you have certainly broken your vow. You know, half-breed blood always tastes the sweetest. And the more powerful the child, the more wonderful it is to partake. Speaking of which," he turned to look at the assembled students, "Gehenna's residents certainly have gotten busy. And lookie here, it seems that our gracious lord has had a daughter himself," the demon, Alukah, walked to her and gave a mocking bow, eyes lingering on her neck.

"Silence, Alukah. These children are under my watch, under direct order of Samael." He herded them behind him, eyes glinting. "And I doubt my father, Belial, or even Azazel will be happy to hear that you drank their blood." Maki racked her brain. Alukah sounded Egyptian, but not quite Egyptian. Arabic or Hebrew, maybe? For the past week, Moriyama-sensei had only taught Egyptian, Greek, and Roman myths, and none of them matched this description.

She felt a poke at her back. "Alukah's a Jewish demon, the oldest of all the vampires. In his class of vampire, he is usually followed by his two daughters." It was Ron's voice. "And how cool is this place? I never expected to go to a genuine speakeasy in all my life!"

"When I was investigating earlier, I ran across an Irish immigrant girl who said that he belonged to a gang of demons. I assumed they like Assiah more than Gehenna. This cross is supposed to repel them." He held out a cross hanging from a leather necklace.

The conversation had turned to Hebrew, and it increased in volume and intensity. "I don't suppose anyone here knows how to speak any Hebrew to know what they're talking about."

"While I was in Gehenna, I picked up a little. Right now, they're calling each other hypocrites, slime, and the like. Though I suppose in the vampire's case, he's more of a leech." Elody whispered behind them.

"Alright. No one's going to start drinking anyone's blood on our watch. I'm not exactly _fond_ of you guys, but we have to do something or we all end up at room temperature. Screw Iblis and his 'protection', I'm taking this guy out!" Emiko stood up, and objects around the room started rattling.

"Cool it, Emiko! You're only drawing attention to yourself!" she heard Mayako scold and a surprised grunt from the other girl as she was pulled down.

"Cool it, my ass! Your dad's acting like we can't protect ourselves and we're pretty much harmless civilians! Are you going to take that?"

"We _are _harmless civilians without our powers. Why do you think Shura's been pushing us? We're not up to standard, not even close."

"Then I'll just have to show him how much damage I _can _do with my powers." She shrugged off her hand and confronted him.

"Care to repeat what you said in _English_, buddy?" she stood in front of Iblis.

"Well aren't you cute? I take it you're Belial's, given your brashness and complete lack of tact, along with those wonderful eyes of yours." His grin turned patronizing as his fangs grew in length. "I was just telling my superior here that I was wondering where he and his brothers found such whores to make such lovely children." Judging from the way Emiko was losing it, something was going to happen soon.

Her right hook met his face. "Say something like that one more time and I doubt you'll wake up," she growled through gritted teeth.

"I was giving you children a compliment. You shouldn't be so ungrateful."

The next thing Maki saw was Mayako standing up. Of course. She and Emiko weren't exactly as close as she and Tsukino, but if you messed with one, you messed with both of them. "I'm not sure about you, Emiko, but I'm not really going to let him get away with this." She looked back at them, and Maki knew exactly what she was trying to do. The two of them couldn't take him out, so they needed help.

Standing up, Maki allowed a small blue flame to form in her hand. Alukah's expression turned fearful for a moment before regaining composure. "So be it, then. Perhaps my daughters can help change your mind." He turned his head behind him. "Labartu! Deber!" Two girls, teenagers, who were exact clones of their father, floated to him.

"Yes, Father?" they asked in unison.

"Teach these insubordinate mutts a lesson."

They giggled. "Certainly." Fangs lengthened and talons grew. The first pinned Huyu to a bar. Bowing down, she sniffed his neck. "Don't you smell heavenly?" she ran a hand down his face. "You may be the spawn of Azazel, but you certainly don't look it. You're so lovely." She placed a small kiss on his neck before opening her mouth over it, pinning his head to the counter. "This won't hurt a bit. Well, for me at least." Just as she prepared to bite down, a jet of flame stopped her.

"Get your grubby fangs off my cousin."

XXXXX

Mayako had no idea what in the hell possessed her to interrupt one of Alukah's daughters from partaking of Huyu. She just… did.

_So much for making a small flame, _she glared in disgust at the massive jet she had produced instead of a laser-like one.

"Oh, you're Iblis', right?" She turned to her. "I suppose you would taste just as good. It's been too long since I fed."

"Or how about you bite me," Ron cut across to her. Looking at the grin on the demon's face, he facepalmed. "Okay. Sucky choice of words."

"Ron?"

"Yeah?" he looked to her.

"Remember that back-to-back drill Shura tried to teach us?" Not only was the first demon approaching them, but numerous others were as well.

"Yeah…"

"Good, 'cause I don't." Ron linked his elbows with hers and they were back to back, slowly circling.

"Then follow my lead."

When the first demon came, she felt a sudden weight on her back and if it wasn't for the standard 'demon strength' she'd inherited, she was sure to break her back. He kicked with both feet and the demon went flying backwards. Another came at them, only towards her. _Crap_. She had no idea what she was doing, but apparently, Ron did. He bent over and tightened his grip on her elbows, forcing her to kick. The two demons didn't stay down for long.

"What now?"

He pulled guns out of his suit. "Now, we improvise."

XXXXX

"Daichi?" He heard his sister ask.

"Yeah?" he responded. The fight wasn't exactly enthralling. A punch or two would take a demon out each time, so he didn't need to use his powers, much to his disappointment.

"Do you think there's earth under the foundation?" Focusing, he found it. He nodded. "Could you help us out here and, you know, _knock out the foundation?_"

Oh. Now he definitely felt kind of stupid since the solution was so obvious. He nodded. "Should we get our classmates out?"

She gave him a look that screamed, "Are you serious about that or just being sarcastic". "I'll get them out then give you a signal to tell you it's safe." She ran out in search of their classmates. A couple minutes later, a vine wound its way to the entrance where he was standing.

Focusing, he found the earth beneath the foundation. Gesturing his hands up, soon spikes shot up from the roof and the entire place collapsed when he made the spikes split up. Well, it was a little challenging, but it only lasted a few minutes. He wondered what became of the students who were late.

As if on cue, the missing students showed up, equal expressions of shock on their faces.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Looks like I missed quite a party?"

"We couldn't possibly be that late."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Iblis. "You know, I usually don't approve much of things associated with Amaimon, but in this case, you did good, kid."

That was the last he heard before they were sucked back into their time.

**A/N: Phew! That was a doozie to write. And before I get reviews about how Azukah is actually female, I'm well aware of that. I just thought that the owner of a speakeasy would be a male, so she took a male host.**

**Please review and happy 20****th**** chapter!**


	21. Camping

**A/N: I'm soooooooooooooo sorry for not updating earlier, but I'm in my school's play and today's practice was cancelled so I finally had time to write. By the way (I tried to say I'd be there) NO! SHUT UP! THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE (insanely awesome) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS SONG! Actually, I was just saying, have any of you seen any original SyFy network TV shows? They're awesome! Just check out Warehouse 13 (my personal fave), EUReKA (no, not the anime), and Lost Girl.**

**Oh, and I only own Mayako.**

A harsh whistle woke Tsukino from an all too brief and (in his opinion, at least) well-deserved sleep. A megaphone resounded throughout the dorm building.

"Wake up, ya pampered little lily livers! Yer burnin' daylight here!" He ignored Shura's rude wake-up call. He'd deal with the consequences later. Pulling his covers close in an attempt to go back to sleep, they were pulled away harshly and blinding sunlight entered the room she nudged his side with her foot.

"I told you to get up. Get dressed in training clothes and meet in the Mess Hall in five minutes for breakfast."

Realizing it would be a bad idea (at the least) to ignore Shura twice, he pulled himself out of bed, rubbing his eyes.

Pulling on the standard gray tank top and black sweatpants, she drug himself down the stairs and into the cafeteria, where nine other half-conscious teens waited. It was quite possibly the first time he saw Mikada without a smile.

Shura placed a massive glass of… green goop in front of them. "Drink," she ordered.

Only one person had the gall to challenge the teacher. "Sensei," Akashi inquired, "What is this?"

"Your breakfast." She turned again to face the entire class. "As you've noticed, Iblis isn't here. In order to keep up appearances of loyalty, he'll be spending the next week or two in Gehenna. Which means," she grinned, "I'll be in charge of you. Now one thing I noticed during your fight yesterday, you relied too heavily on your powers. Now this tells me one thing—your physical state is insufficient. We'll have to fix that."

Tsukino did _not _see this day ending well.

XXXXX

The class was divided into two groups of five—girls and boys. Kitkat didn't want to be separated from her brother, but it couldn't be helped. The line was arranged in order of power, so in the front was Maki, followed by Mayako, then Emiko, helself, and Mikada in the back. The girl's incessant babbling made her want to make a vine and strangle her, the rules were clear—no powers. Normally, she wouldn't follow them, but after seeing Shura in action, she thought better of it.

"First off, from now on, you'll be starting your day with fifty pushups. And don't even _think_ about doing those cheap ones, because I'll know. Don't try to run; I have my familiars set up all over the camp. Insubordination will result in another fifty pushups. I'll give you further instruction once I'm satisfied with your work."

Pushups were incredibly straining and useless in her book, and fifty of them simply seemed… excessive. But knowing better than to talk back to the teacher, she laid on the ground stomach-down and hands at her sides beside her shoulders. _As if this stupid April weather wasn't hot enough…_ she thought. It was unseasonably warm out for spring, about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so it wasn't just the strain on her still relatively thin arms that made this unbearable and caused sweat to bead on her forehead.

Fifty pushups done, she rolled over and collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving, just wanting to watch the clear blue sky and the lovely, wonderful trees. _Wait…_ she thought. A gray mass of clouds lurked over the distance, rumbling threateningly. She got up and approached Shura-sensei. "Miss Kirigukure?"

"Hmm?" she asked, apparently reading an old shounen manga that was older than her. _Rurouni Kenshin _was written on the front, a character with red hair, purple eyes, and a scar on his left cheek was being depicted.

"There's a storm coming."

"Huh?" She looked up, shrugged and returned to the manga. "I know. Consider this Boy Scouts for half-breeds."

XXXXX

The groups reunited, Daichi watched the storm with moderate interest. It was hardly the first time he was outside with a storm fast approaching, but doing so in company was something of a novelty to him.

"Daichi," Shura called, "Care to rejoin the group?" It was only then he realized he'd wandered off. Nodding, he strode back with his classmates. "First, we're going to need to build shelter. Tsukino, once the rain starts, keep it suspended so we don't get soaked and sick. Daichi," she looked to him, and he nodded, "put up four pillars, spaced enough to put up camp."

Focusing, he stomped his foot on the ground and motioned his hands up harshly, four pillars of earth repeating the lifting motion.

"Now you and Mayako are going to go around the perimeter of the clearing to create lamps. These lamps will warn any demons away, marking this as the territory of the children of the demon kings."

Maki feebly raised her hand. "Sensei, wouldn't I be better equipped for lighting the lamps since the fire of Satan is so recognizable?"

"Normally, yes," she amended, "but the forest's guardian is extremely wary of the blue flames since they burned down nearly a quarter of his home five years ago. If he saw your flames, he would hunt you down and kill you, so we're using the next best thing."

"Great. I'm _loving _this positive reinforcement thing," Mayako muttered under her breath.

"What about the rest of us?" asked Katio.

"I was just getting to that. You two, be off, and if there's anything wrong, one of you should send your familiars to me."

Setting off, they walked in a mutual, but comfortable silence, for a few minutes. "So, you don't have daddy to protect you if stuff goes to hell this time," he started.

"I'm not sure what you all think of me, but if you think I want, or need, my dad around, you're mistaken. I've lived without him for ten years, so I actually like him not being around. What about you? Did Amaimon ever watch out for you?"

He snorted. "Hardly. After my mom and sister died, I've pretty much been bumped from foster home to foster home before I just decided to live on the streets. At least you got to know your dad. At least you know he cares."

"I'm not sure about that last part. I mean, we were close when I was little, but then he fakes his own death in a car crash and leaves me and my mom to watch over my brothers for ten years. He doesn't exactly scream 'Dad of the Month'. If he really cared, he'd tell Mom and I why he left. But what about you? Do you have any family?"

"I used to have a mother and a little sister named Hinata. They're both dead now, but I really miss them."

"I know the feeling. You're so used to life with them, but one day, they're just—gone. You try to keep living life like that, but it's such a huge hole to fill. Plus, if you're young enough, you hardly know what's going on." She paused. "I think this is a good place to start."

Nodding, he brought up a thinner post with small gates to keep the fire from spreading. Mayako flicked her hand and a small flame flew from her palm to the post.

"Wow," she said. "_Now_ my powers decide to cooperate."

XXXXX

Weaving the net for over the camp was tiring work, Kitkat thought. She had grown the hundreds of feet of vines needed with relative ease, but she also had to put them together. In and out, up and down, over and under, it wasn't _hard_, per se, but tedious. She tried turning her focus elsewhere, to the pattering of the rain on the invisible shield Tsukino and Emiko had made, to the growing pile of beer cans laying beside Shura-sensei, even to investigating the flawless towers that her brother had made, without so much as a speck of dirt out of line. Eventually, she contented herself with listening to the quiet conversation of the plants that no one else could hear.

_Amaimon would be proud of his children and their power, wouldn't you say?_

_Yes, but I thought that at this point in their lives, they'd be on thrones beside him, or hunting, not doing this menial slave labor._

_Daichi and Kitkat do seem to enjoy this somewhat, though. They also need a place to learn their powers, and Gehenna isn't the best place for that._

Menial or not, the work needed to be done, and since Huyu and some of his ghostly servants were helping to make dinner, and Mikida's bugs guarding the camp, every person had a job here. Shaking her attention from the conversations going on around her, she looked at her work as a whole. She was a little more than halfway done, but she still had a long way to go. Focusing on the work and nothing more, using the rain as background noise to help her concentrate, work passed much more quickly, and the product wasn't suffering for it. A few more minutes had passed, and a tarp made completely of vines had formed itself over the four pillars.

"Kirigukure-sensei, I'm done," she called.

The teacher let out a drunken giggle. "Now let's see how you did." Walking over, even the smallest rocks jutting from the ground seemed to affect her balance, which was extremely unlike the cold, calculating woman who had never so much as lost her footing in the weeks she'd known her. "Well, it looks okay to me, but I should really get a second opinion," she stammered and giggled. "Okay, maybe I'm not the best judge. Yoo-hoo! Ghosty-boy! You wouldn't mind checking the tent, would you?"

He nodded and strode to the now-covered camping area. "It looks good to me," he shrugged, after examining it closely.

Shura called over her shoulder, "We're good here! You can stop now!"

The two released their grip on the water, before being greeted by an extremely grumpy fire demon and Daichi.

XXXXX

A string of curses that was a mix between English and Japanese exited Mayako's mouth, heat trying to radiate off of her. Huyu was surprised. In the time they'd been sort-of friends, he'd never heard such foul language from her.

"What's her problem?" asked Mikada, who was running around the tent.

He rolled his eyes. "She's half fire demon."

"So?"

"What does water do to fire?"

The (dim) girl put two and two together. "Oh. Is that why Tsukino is in a good mood?"

He nodded.

"Did you make ramen for dinner?"

He nodded again.

She almost tackled him with a hug. "You are officially my _favorite _classmate!"

In the (naturally created) campfire, the class ate in relative peace, with the exception of the still-muttering Mayako.

"So, now we're going to do a team building exercise." At the horrified expressions on all of their faces, she continued, "Oh, hush. I'm just teaching you all to play cards. You know, old cultures used to teach military students different card games to make and adapt strategies. First up, Maki, Akashi, Mikada, and Huyu, you'll play Spades."

**A/N: Again, sorry for the late update, but if you review, I'll update faster!**

**Hugs and Firearms, **

**Operaghost96**

**Deadpool: Oh, no you didn't! You did **_**not**_** just take one of my signature signoffs!**

**Me: Cool it, Wade. What are you going to do? You're a comic book character.**

**Deadpool: Don't remind me.**


	22. Spades and Recruiting

**A/N: Sorry, another kind-of late chapter… hehe. But, I decided to introduce another teacher that came from my new obsession with 'Lost Girl' (Team Dyson all the way!). Oh, and WARNING! Dirty jokes ahead (Mori has no tact)**

**I only own Morrigan, Maya, and Iblis**

Shura threw the deck of cards on the small earthen table she had commanded Daichi make. Looking around, sizing up the competition, Akashi inwardly smiled. This was a game of strategy, and if he had any strong points, that was where it was. It also didn't hurt that he was competing against Mikada and Maki, who weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.

He took a seat beside Maki, across from Huyu and diagonal from Mikada. Shura began to speak. "Take note of where you are. The person diagonal from you is your teammate." He cursed inwardly. This was not good. Not good at all. Mikada had the attention span of a small puppy. "Now, to further explain the rules. One of you is going to shuffle the cards and deal them clockwise, dealing to yourself last. Each person is going to have thirteen cards. Now, to start off the game, the person with the two of clubs leads. People then play clockwise, putting down their lowest club. The person with the highest card wins. Any questions so far?"

Mikada raised her hand. "Which one is the club?"

She picked up the deck, searching through it until she found one of the aforementioned suit—a less educated person would call it a black three-leaved clover. "The person who takes the first trick, which is what we call when every person puts a card down, starts the next one. The person can either play hearts or diamonds," she put one of each suit down before continuing, "because you can't lead the same suit in a row twice and you can't play trump—in this game, trump is always spades—until it is broken. In other words, you can't start a hand of it off until someone plays it. You can't play trump until you run out of the suit that is lead.

"You pretty much repeat the process until you run out of cards. Now, for the part that involves strategy, bidding. You look at the cards and see how many tricks you think you can take. When playing with four players, the teams have to bid a minimum of four tricks between them. If you take more tricks than you bid, you go up for every extra. But if you have ten of these underbids, you go down a hundred. If you take less tricks than you bid for, you go down ten for every bid you make. Do you understand?"

They all nodded.

"Then Huyu, start dealing." The white-haired boy did as he was told, shuffling and dealing. Looking at his hand, Akashi couldn't help but grimace. He had the two of clubs, five diamonds, four hearts, and only three spades. However, one of the spades was an ace, so he had one guaranteed trick.

"Mikada, start the bidding."

Looking hard at her cards, she grinned and yelled, "Fifteen!"

Akashi groaned, letting his head fall on the table. This was going to be a _long_ game.

XXXXX

Iblis wasn't sure if what he was about to do was the right thing. The (rather large) cottage bathed in green flames was hardly a new sight—he'd welcomed the inhabitant with open arms to Gehenna several millennia ago, and seen her hundreds, no, _thousands_ of times since. But he had _never _come to her when the cause involved anything of the mortal world for fear she'd let go of the scraps of sanity she held on to.

Before he could even knock on the door, she answered—tall, slim, wearing a classic green Celtic dress with her black ringlets falling down her back and framing a youthful face accentuated by bright green eyes. "Iblis," she said shortly with a small bow. "What can I do for you?"

"Morrigan, may I speak with you?"

"Of course. Come in, sir."

The inside was decorated with old books lying around and dozens of animal pelts, along with some old metalwork, such as swords. "So, what is it you have to ask?"

He took a deep breath, hoping Morrigan wouldn't panic. She may be thousands of years old, but she still had the mentality of a cynical seventeen-year-old. "This is a matter that involves half-breeds."

She stood up, green eyes flashing and fire of the same color flaring up around her. "You dare ask me something like that? You know full well that I'm done dealing with mortals. How am I sure this isn't some ploy made by my father?"

"It's not. Just sit down." Iblis motioned to one of the oak chairs at her table.

"You'd better make this good," she grumbled, doing as she was asked.

XXXXX

Maki watched as Akashi put down the two of clubs, starting the game. Putting down the five, the lowest of the six clubs she held in her hand after Huyu's ten had decidedly taken the trick, beating Mikada's seven, he swept his hand over the table, gathering in the cards. He placed down an ace of hearts, showing that he intended to take this trick, too. He succeeded, but when he went to play clubs again, it didn't go all the way around when Akashi played a four of spades. Between Huyu and Maki, their team had bid five tricks, and it was already predetermined that the other team would go down: Mikada had bid for fifteen.

Four of the five tricks were already claimed, so they only had one left until they were safe. Smirking, she put down her secret weapon. Maki had already managed to draw out Akashi's ace of spades (which had taken one of the two tricks sitting at his side), so the king of spades was, at the moment, the highest card available. Sure enough, the card she put down took the trick and smirked. They had met their bid, and the other team was already going to go down, creating a gap of at least one hundred and seventy.

"Not so much of a genius now, are you, Akashi?" she looked at him from across the table.

XXXXX

Morrigan watched her uncle put down ten portraits—photographs (a luxury she hadn't partaken in as of yet—and began to speak.

"Maki Fujiwara, daughter of Satan. She shares a number of personality traits with her brother, Rin Okumura."

"That brat who gave Satan all that trouble five years back?"

"The same. Claims control of the blue flames, can read the movements of others, and can summon a wolf familiar with the blue flames. However, she lacks control of her emotions, which is the only thing standing between her and becoming one of the most dangerous beings in Assiah." He put down the next picture. "Ren Tsukino, son of Egyn."

She couldn't help but sneer. "That disgusting bastard has a son?"

"Though I am not on the best of terms with my eldest brother, I must ask you to watch what you say about him. He can control water, but like with all demon abilities in half-breeds, they wear down on his stamina. He also bears a scythe that he uses when he wants to preserve his energy."

She nodded. During the Middle Ages, she had traveled to mainland Europe, and the weapons proved most effective, so she decided to learn how to use one. "Okay. On to the next."

He put down the next picture, of a normal-looking Japanese teenager. "Akashi Tsurai, son of Samael."

"Doesn't that man know how to keep it in his clown pants? I've met at least fifty of his children over the years."

"It's unbecoming of a lady to speak like that," Iblis scolded, taking on a paternal tone. She inwardly flinched. She was thousands of years old, but he still treated her like a child. "Now, he has some influence over fire—something I haven't had the opportunity to work with yet—and can slow down time, which I've been focusing on with him. Unfortunately, he shares his father's affinity for manipulation, and his ability to manipulate time really takes it out of him." He drew out the next photo, a teenage girl with dark red hair and flame-colored eyes, making her look suspiciously like… "Mayako Ieyoshi, my daughter."

"I thought you were going to keep your hands off mortal women after your last son caused the great Chicago fire." She looked at him knowingly, putting out her hand. "Pay up, Uncle, I told you you couldn't do it."

Dismayed, he pulled a handful of gold out of his pocket and put it into her hands. "Anyway, she has my ability to control fire, but none of my control. I put seals on her so she won't hurt any more people, but they can't teach her control, which is her downfall." He set down the next picture, another teen girl with red-streaked black hair, reptilian eyes, and a chip on her shoulder. "Emiko Ryuujin, daughter of Belial."

"It seems that royalty was very, very busy about seventeen years ago," she looked up, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"I told you about those impure thoughts. Must I sentence you another fifteen years to the circle of lust?" She remembered those years… not a good time. She shook her head rapidly. "As I was saying, she has some power over the elements, nowhere near the ability that the kings of the elements have, but dangerous enough, can summon any of her father's dragons, and fly when she assumes her demon form. However, she is as pigheaded and stubborn as Belial himself, not to mention her total distrust of most males and love of violence."

"Well, that's two things we have in common," she muttered.

"I still do not see your cause for hatred of men, but moving on," he put down the next picture, a teen boy with white hair and amber eyes, looking almost exactly like… _not possible_, she thought in fear. "Huyu Onryu, son of Azazel."

She stood up, knocking the chair down. "No way! No way in _hell_ am I going to train any spawn of that greasy-haired swine."

"_You_ are spawn of 'that greasy-haired swine', too, niece," he pointed out.

"That's different! I openly disown any relation I have to him. This… Huyu… looks just like my so-called father. He can probably control spirits, too."

"Yes, he can, but believe me when I say he is nothing like his father. He's mild-mannered, soft-spoken, and all-around a good kid. Come on, just give him a chance."

She sighed. "Fine. Now who's the next kid?"

"Katio Tsuksumo, son of Agramon."

She leaned back in her chair. "How in the hell did _he _manage to get laid?!" catching her uncle's glare, she smiled sheepishly. "Right. No more dirty jokes out of this girl. Tell me about this Katio kid."

"Can sense the fears of others and create hallucinations concerning them. He can sometimes teleport, but it has a high energy cost. He also has a small healing familiar who fixes him up after he gets in a scrap." This time he put two pictures down—a boy who, aside from the hair, looked just like Amaimon, and a tiny brunette girl in dark clothing. "Kitkat Vitani and Daichi Isamu, children of Amaimon. Daichi, like his father, has influence over earth and also shares his short attention span. Kitkat can influence and communicate with plants. She's demeaning and dry, but overall a good kid. She never really gave me that much trouble. Now, for the last." He set down the last photograph, a girl with yellow eyes, pink hair, and a huge smile. Morrigan hated her already. "Mikada Hirishou, daughter of Beelzebub."

"Oh, come on. The guy freaks me out. No one can possibly be that nice all the time, especially not a demon."

"Well, young Mikada certainly shares that in common with her father. She's incurably cheery, childish, irresponsible, immature, and annoying. She'll bombard you with questions, so be prepared. She also has control over bugs and some influence over gravity, though that is one muscle that certainly needs flexing… along with her brain."

Looking down at the pictures, she mumbled under her breath. "So… you want me to train these kids into an unstoppable fighting force?" she asked, amusement lacing her voice.

"If anyone can do it, it's the ancient Irish goddess of war."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear uncle." She looked up. "I'll do it. I'm so bored down here, I almost resorted to _housework_."

"Glad to hear it."

**A/N: So, how was it? Remember to review! It's the little box at the bottom of the screen! And if you need more instructions on how to play spades, look it up (it's seriously fun)**


	23. Hang on to Every Word

**A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! I was on vacation for the last two weeks, so I just got back a few days ago. So, here is a new chapter! Happy late Easter!**

**I only own Iblis, Morrigan, and Maya.**

"The Vatican calls to meeting the presence of the ancient Celtic half-breed Morrigan and her presence on Assiah." The middle-aged man at the center in the powdered wig was yelling unnecessarily as his voice resounded greatly around the circularly-carved, and naturally acoustic, judgment room of the Vatican the meeting was held in.

_I hate this place_, Iblis thought sourly. It wasn't because of the fact it was in the center of the Knights of the True Cross, so he could count at least twenty agents ready to attack him if he made a false move; he could take them down easily. No. It wasn't that. It was the grand architecture of the place that reminded him of Rome, his favorite city, and the flames he wanted to stop but was commanded to let burn by his father, and watching the horror as the greatest city in the world was brought down by the flames of mere mortals.

He forced a smile to the stubborn girl before him, still in her Celtic dress, something she preferred to wear when she wasn't fighting. "Knock 'em dead, kid," he said, giving her a small hug. Over the centuries, she'd become like a daughter to him. He'd trained her in the use of her flames, gave her a home… _You're getting sensitive, old man, _he reprimanded himself.

Morrigan rolled her eyes, but hugged him anyway. When she forced him to let go, she offered a cocky grin. "Please. They'll be eating out of my hand." She walked to the podium, fierce green eyes looking at them unabashedly; knowing they all dwarfed her in age, even the Grigori.

"Morrigan, we understand that you are asking permission for presence on Assiah as a teacher in Rin Okumura's half-breed class. What is the purpose for this?" Iblis sighed. The old bastards were never ones to mince words, though he shouldn't be calling anyone 'old'.

"You have been assigning them teachers that only cover part of what they need to know. You're training _half_-bloods, and you have only focused on the part of them that is human, almost training them like another one of your cram school classes."

"Before you get any further, daughter of Azazel," interrupted the one cloaked in green, "may I remind you that we have allowed the demon kings Samael and Iblis to participate in this class, as well as allow son of Satan Rin Okumura to lead the entire operation, who is, also, a half-breed, like yourself."

He could see the teenager resist the urge to roll her eyes. He smirked slightly. Eye-rolling was her automatic response to stupid questions and comments. "But Okumura has only been Awake for five years, and Iblis and Samael are full-blooded demons, unable to help them harness their greatest weapon."

"And what, pray tell, is a half-demon's 'Greatest Weapon'? And how would you teach them to use it?" The female one interrogated her this time, the tone somewhere between accusing and mocking.

"A half-demon's greatest weapon is the demon form, when accessed correctly. If the person is able to keep their wits about them and not succumb to demonic instinct, they can have the minds of humans and the power of demons. Okumura has only been able to enter the state like that once, under an emergency. I have had over 2,500 years to access and perfect mine. I will teach them to strengthen their will, to steel their minds. I know you have three children of Satan at your disposal, but they are all volatile at best, and the greatest you can hope for is to point them in the right direction and pray for no casualties on your side. I can offer you fine-tuned weapons of destruction." During her speech, Iblis noticed something change slowly—her eyes somehow came to life, a fire dancing in them that he hadn't seen for centuries.

They were silent, for a time, undoubtedly speaking through their minds, a strange magic they possessed. The one in green delivered the verdict. "After careful deliberation, we decided to allow Morrigan's presence as a teacher in Okumura Rin's class."

The look on his niece's face was well worth the memories of Rome's destruction.

XXXXX

"Well, today we'll be going over ancient Celtic mythology!" Moriyama-sensei very nearly yelled, a small blush forming on her determined face. Huyu could certainly see what made Okumura-sensei fall head over heels for her. "First we'll be going over Morrigan. What can you tell me about her?"

"Well, she wasn't one of the Demon Kings, or a full demon at all, even though she was one of the more important Celtic goddesses. She was a half-breed." The feminine voice with a lilting accent belonged to a girl who looked to be seventeen, with three-quarters length sleeves on a black-and-green striped shirt, dark jeans, and black boots. The girl herself had acid green eyes, black hair that fell in ringlets down her back, and unmarred porcelain skin. "The daughter of Azazel, she was Awakened older than most, at the age of seventeen. Her father approached her, and took her in to Gehenna, where he made a life for her as a killer of the guilty and such. She eventually grew tired of this senseless killing after a few years. She renounced her father's claim on her, and was then taken in by Iblis. After her favorite mortal, Jeanne D'Arc was burned at the stake for heresy, she went in to her home in Gehenna and hasn't been back to Assiah since." A small smile entered her elfish features. "Well, until today, at least." The previous appearance fell away to reveal green dress with a plunging, square-cut neckline, and a sword at her hip. "Miss Moriyama, your permission to take over your class?"

"Oh, of course!" she quickly gathered up her things and hurried out the door.

She slammed a fist on the table. "Okay kids, listen up. I've been around for over 2,500 years. So don't try that 'I know better than you' routine, because that's not gonna fly. You better hang on to every damn word I'm going to say, because that'll mean life or death. My uncle here tells me that you've been able to access your forms willingly only recently. You'll be doing that a lot more often."

Morrigan ordered them to the training room, where the normal cram school students were currently working on the track. She wasted no time in striding to the teacher and showing him something and pointing to the door. _If she's my sister, I obviously missed out on some genes,_ Huyu thought, raising an eyebrow.

A student, a sturdily built boy in a sweatsuit, pointed them out. "Look! Apparently now the freaks think they can use the same facilities as us!"

Emiko wasted no time in walking up to him, grabbing the back of his head, forcing him to bend, and harshly bringing her right knee up to his face, breaking his nose. "Actually, I think we can do what we damn well please," she said with an icy glare.

"Y-You bitch!" yelled the boy, clutching his bleeding nose. "You're insane! A freak of nature! You don't belong here!"

"No, that's where you're wrong. _You're _the ones who don't belong here." She approached him again, and followed the following accusations with a brutal hit. "You're greedy. You don't care who or what you hurt. The ends always justify the means for you. _We're _not the monsters, _you _are."

"Miss Ryuujin," Morrigan glared down at her. "I would expect more from the daughter of Belial. You don't kick someone when they're down, no matter how much you hate them. Maintain some honor."

The students took that time to get as far away from her as possible. "I can't stand them," she said through gritted teeth.

Huyu put a hand on her shoulder. "I know. They're worse than us at times. But… try to be a little more forgiving, okay?" he offered a small smile.

"You go through the things I go through and then try to forgive those… those _beasts_," she spat before walking away.

"What's her problem?" he asked Maya beside him and she looked away.

"Let her tell you when she's ready."

XXXXX

If there was one word to describe how Maki felt right now, it would be along the lines of _panicked, terrified,_ and the like. She hated changing. She honestly did, for the reason that it was so easy for her to lose control and hurt all those around her. Cassidy would tell her to shake it off and not worry about it, but right now she didn't have that luxury.

"Now, before you all panic about losing control," Morrigan aimed a pointed look at her, "I've had Mephisto put up a number of barriers so you'll be contained. The reason you're afraid is because you hold on to your humanity desperately and if you hold on to something too tightly, it slips out of your grasp. Accept your demon side, not completely, and don't be so desperate to remain human, and you'll maintain control."

She saw Morrigan change, the dress turning to an armor of green fire, her ears lengthening, and her incisors turn to fangs, but she didn't have a tail. She raised her hand. "Why don't you have a tail?"

"After thousands of years, you know how to keep your tail hidden. Something which you obviously haven't learned yet." She glared at the members of the class who kept their tails out (in other words, everyone but Akashi).

Tsukino nudged her with his elbow. "Will you be okay with changing?" he asked, brotherly concern filling his voice. Although Rei was found and rescued, he still made time for her, to her great relief.

"I'm not sure," she whispered, shaking her head. "Every time I changed… I lost control, except for that fight with Azazel. I don't want to go back there again."

He looked back at her, fear for her plain on her face. "Something tells me that you'll have to."

**A/N: I'm sorry for focusing more on the more powerful segment of the class, so to make it up to you, here is a snippet for the next chapter!**

"What is going on here?" asked Hotomi, half to herself. Shura had placed the entire 'underclass' in a cage underground. "Shouldn't we be training?" she yelled to the aforementioned teacher, staring lazily at them from the catwalk.

"I believe in learning on the job."

**Stay tuned, and next chapter, the action scene will be more effective if you listen to 'In too Deep' by Sum 41!**


	24. Facing Weakness

**A/N: Okay, this chapter started out light… and then I don't know what happened, exactly. And I'm sorry for the late update. They'll be spotty. I own nothing.**

Dawn's first light peeked over the horizon as Hotomi's blaring alarm gave her a rude awakening. Just as she was about to form a _kunai_ and throw it at the accursed machine, she was reminded of the chewing-out she had received from Shura for so 'blatantly disregarding orders'. So, rather than get yelled at in front of the entire class again, she quite literally rolled out of her bed and picked up the standard training outfit which consisted of sweatpants and a tank top.

As she was running to meet the class, she rushed to pull her hair into a high ponytail, another standard for training. In other words, she was quite the picture to behold when the rest of the class was already gathered. Especially when her shoe (which she didn't have time to tie) caused her to fall face-first into the dirt. She looked up sheepishly at Shura, a nervous smile on her face. "Am I late?" At that statement, several snickers echoed through the class.

Shura, unamused, picked her up by the back of her shirt at eye level. "What part of 'meet at dawn' don't you idiots understand?" With her free hand, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Tie your shoe, pull up your hair, and fall in with the rest." The teacher dropped her and turned on her heel, leading the class to the training area.

She felt an elbow nudge her. "Great show of coordination there, Icy," said Ron, acid green eyes shining with good humor.

When they stopped, Hotomi realized that they hadn't gone to the training room. In fact, now they stood in some kind of warehouse, with growls, hisses, and heavy steps echoing throughout.

While the entire group was walking around, getting a bearing of their new surroundings, they all heard a decisive _clank_ behind them. "What is going on here?" asked Hotomi, half to herself. Shura had placed the entire 'underclass' in a cage underground. "Shouldn't we be training?" she yelled to the aforementioned teacher, staring lazily at them from the catwalk.

"I believe in learning on the job." With that, she pushed a button, and she heard the rattling of gates as they were lifted.

"Oh, _goody,_" she muttered sarcastically. A demon now stood before her, eyes the color or sulfur, and the beast reeked of the stuff, too. Its skin seemed to be made of obsidian, and the entire thing was hot. As for appearance, it looked as if a jaguar had gone on steroids. "Could this day get any better?" Her hopes that it would be a relatively easy match-up had gone up in smoke when it breathed fire in front of her, and she could swear her arms were already burned due to her sensitivity to the stuff. In her hand, she formed a batch of _kunai_ and breathed deeply. "Of course not. Because an obsidian jaguar on steroids wasn't bad enough. There had to be fire, too." She looked up. "Alright, ugly. Let's see what you're made of."

XXXXX

Elody wasn't sure what was putting her off more, the fact that a giant alligator-like beast that seemed to be made of swamp had taken to chasing her, or the fact that she was being forced to wear pants. After the thing roared and she became covered with the muddy sludge that often grew there, she decided that the former was worse by far. She formed some small violet flames to ward the beast off, but they promptly sputtered out. "Oh, bollocks!" she yelled, and Cassidy took a break from the giant snake demon that was constantly spitting fire rather than venom to shoot her an odd look.

"Bollocks? Really?"

At that moment, Elody chose to do what was quite possibly one of the dumbest stunts she had done in years. She tried to jump atop the thing, and perhaps find its blind spot, but the alligator-beast was having none of it. It brought up its massive tail, covered in vines and mud, and swatted her away like she was simply a pesky fly. _Hand-to-hand combat is certainly not one of my strengths._ She reached in her pocket, praying it was there, because if it wasn't, Shura would most likely murder her. Finally, she found it.

'It' was a knife with an eight-inch-long blade that was held in a purple-stained wooden sheath. Shura had given all of them one for self-defense, even if they didn't need it, like Hotomi or Ron, who always had their weapons with them. On the handle of a blade her name was etched in, along with a purple flame. She unsheathed the knife and held it up before the demon, who seemed to snort derisively, if a demon could do that. She backed up, hoping for an idea of any sort to come to her. _I will not die by the hand of a great, hulking, swamp brute._ The beast struck its tail out again, and this time she had the reflexes to duck it. _I'll have to thank Shura for that, won't I? _

Her foot struck a large rock behind her. A plan reluctantly formed in her head, hoping that this alligator was still slow. She retreated even faster now before revising her earlier plan. She ran towards it, kicking off the rock, which gave her the height and distance she needed. Elody landed atop its great head, which was so large that she fit on it with room to spare, held out the dagger, and stuck it in the beast's eye. It writhed in pain, trying to shake her off and get the knife out, but she just held on more until it finally collapsed, dead. Breathing heavily, she looked up to Shura, who looked to be outright laughing at her.

"Is _that_ good enough for you?"

"Well, it's not the approach I would've taken, but you got the job done. Now get to the showers. I can smell you from all the way up here." She let out a pained groan. This was probably Shura's idea of a warm-up for the day.

XXXXX

The giant beast Ron was facing was probably his worst nightmare. It wasn't afraid of anything, for one, but it also seemed to be bulletproof; he'd emptied at least two clips on the giant beast and it hadn't even made a dent. There was nothing he could possibly do to hurt it. He looked up at his legal guardian. "Really, Shura?"

A shuriken landed on the wall two inches from his head. "It's Kirigukure-sensei in class."

"_That smug, annoying, little…" _he ranted through gritted teeth before he thought to shut his piehole, because Shura had inhuman hearing, something that had gotten him in trouble with her more than a few times, and he might as well add another to that tally, because the pink-haired woman glared down at him, violet eyes accusatory._ Me and my big mouth. _He was snapped out of it when its massive pincers grabbed each of his arms and suspended him in the air, and scorpion-like tail poised to sting. The next thing he remembered was a sharp pain in his chest before getting dropped to the ground.

XXXXX

Shura watched, wide-eyed, as her (admittedly favorite) charge was stung in the chest by that Scorpio demon and dropped to the ground, unconscious. Most of the students were still working on their own assignments, demons based upon their very weaknesses to get them to man up, but no way in hell was she taking any more chances with them. She jumped from the catwalk where she was supervising them and buried a _kunai_ in the eye socket of the demon that injured Ron. She'd deal with Iblis' bitching about killing a demon under his power later. Sweeping Ron from the dirt floor and carrying him bridal style, she made a beeline for the Infirmary, setting off about five holy water grenades on the way out. They weren't particularly powerful, and still in their human form, so it would only result in a sting whilst it killed their opponents instantly.

Heavy, racing footsteps echoed though the hall behind her. "Kirigakure-sensei!" Cassidy's voice yelled. Strained, panicked.

She didn't bother turning around. "I ain't got time to deal with your shit, kid. A Scorpio Temptaint that directly is lethal in 30 minutes, even for half-breeds. That little fucker got him straight in the heart."

"But—what happened?"

"I'll tell you later. For now, every word you say is keeping me away from saving his life. Now get lost, kid!"

In the Infirmary, Yukio's eyes lit up until he saw Ron's unconscious figure in her arms. "Shura… what happened to him?"

She laid him down on one of the beds and took off his shirt. "Scorpio sting straight in the heart. I'll get the morphine."

He grabbed her arm as she headed for the medicine cabinet. "No! That would just make things worse. I have an antitoxin. Strap him to the bed." Once she used the leather straps to secure his arms and legs to the bed, Yukio took out a large needle and injected it in Ron's chest. He started convulsing, limbs lashing out and chest rising and falling rapidly.

"What did you do to him?!"

The Chicken put a hand on her shoulder. "That's how it works. It burns the venom through his system."

"You're putting him in more pain!"

"Do you want him to die or not?! God, Shura. This is his only chance for living. You've known the kid a while, and if what you told me about him is true, he'll make it through this."

She pushed his hand off her shoulder. "If he doesn't, I am done with this class, done with you, done with your brother, and done with anything that has to do with any of the above." She looked at Ron's convulsing form. "Come on, kid. You'll pull through. You have to."

***Laughs evilly* Yep. Another cliffhanger. So if you want to find out what happens to Ron, or if you want to know what happens with Yukio and Shura's relationship, review!**

**Thank you so much!**


	25. They Need a Leader

**A/N: Okay, I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the late update. It has been a hectic month. Vacation, staying at my Dad's, and finishing the music class from Gehenna. And for future reference, all of my Blue Exorcist stories use the 'Dante' model of Gehenna. Which means, nine circles. So here is a new chapter for you guys! Enjoy**

_Beep… beep… beep…_

Ron felt like he was drowning in a thick liquid of some kind. He heard things, through a distance, like the beeping that felt like it had been going on forever. It took all his willpower to make out the voice speaking beside him.

"_You know… I really, truly feel like shit for not telling you any of this. And for letting you get hurt. God…"_

The tide pulled him under again. It took everything to hear, let alone open his eyes, move, or speak. It actually felt like there was something helping him _breathe_. His heart pulsed in his chest, each beat bringing more pain, more pressure. _Maybe I should just… stop._

"_Just, don't you dare fucking leave me, you little prick. I've gotten too used to having you around to adjust to you not being here." _Maybe it was Ron's imagination, but he thought he heard Shura's voice crack.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying, his eyes opened. The picture was fuzzy, but after blinking once or twice, the picture focused. Shura, with prominent bags under her violet eyes, sat beside him in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable folding chair. Iblis was there, too, along with Yukio, who had his back turned to him, and a seventeen-year-old girl with curly black hair and bright green eyes.

Shura jumped to her feet. "He's awake!" If he hadn't been already in what seemed like a hospital bed, he would've been tackled by the massive and un-Shura-like hug she gave him. Even so, he was being smothered. "Don't you dare scare me like that, you little shit. I was worried sick!"

He struggled to breathe with his guardian's weight upon him. "What happened? How long was I out?"

The relieved look on her face vanished. "A Scorpio demon got you right in the heart. You were out for about a week."

He automatically pulled up his shirt. Sure enough, a black stain ran under the skin of his chest through his blood vessels, ranging from shoulder to shoulder and collarbone to the bottom of his chest. The girl with the green eyes spoke in English, with a thick Irish accent. "It'll shrink with time. But you will never completely get rid of it. Although what is a near-death experience without a good scar?" She turned back to the others. "May I ask him?"

Shura looked at her. "Are you sure he's ready?"

She looked back, green eyes cutting into Shura's. "Not yet. But I'll help him. Now get, all of you." Reluctantly, they all retreated. When they were gone, she held out her hand. "Macha, at your service. But around other students, you'll call me Morrigan."

Ron looked at her blankly. "Macha? What the hell kind of name is that?"

A small smile touched her lips. "A twenty-six hundred year old one. Now there's something I want to speak with you about. By now, you know that we're putting together teams for training you guys. And every team needs a leader."

Ron let out a strangled noise. "You want me… to lead seventeen kids."

She scoffed. "Not all of them, dimwit. Just the ones who aren't children of the Demon Kings. I know a leader when I see one." She walked to the foot of his bed. "You have no idea what you just survived. That amount from a Scorpio demon that powerful should have killed you. I don't care that you're a half-breed. I don't care about your healing capabilities. To fight that poison for a week and win is no small feat. You don't rely on your powers. You've got heart, kid. And that's what every leader needs."

Then he realized something he had heard in cram school about the only 'Morrigan' he'd learned about in demonology. She hadn't been around for about 600 years. "Macha?"

"What?"

"...When I went to the normal cram school, we learned about you. That nobody had seen neither heads nor tails of you for six hundred years. Why?"

Macha hesitated, sobering. "Because I let a close friend get hurt. You're not ready to know the whole story. From now on, you'll be taking lessons from me as well as your normal courses. Are you in? Are you ready to lead?"

"As I'll ever be. But that's what school is for, right?"

XXXXX

Tsukino's stream of water sliced yet another dummy in half. The weariness had been creeping up on him, but every time he started to complain, Iblis had sentenced him to another five repetitions of the present exercise, each time he demanded faster reflexes.

"Pathetic. The son of my eldest brother can't keep up his water for more than twenty minutes. If Egyn could see you now, he'd kick your ass all the way to Gehenna for being such a pansy." The teacher circled him examining his form. He used a small jet of flame to hit the back of his legs. "Wider stance." The small whip stung this elbows. "Keep your arms up. And never, _ever_, let your guard down. Now go again." He walked away as the simulation began yet again.

First came the dummy behind him. With somewhat renewed energy, he manipulated the stream to cut its head off. The body fell limply to the ground. Remembering to keep his stance wide, when the dummy from the front came at near-breakneck speeds, he formed the water into a spear of sorts and sent it straight through its torso, stuffing falling out the back. He expected for the lights to come back up, but instead, another dummy came toward him from above. Mustering as much water and will as he forced the giant sphere of water to the side, knocking away the dummy.

"Still slow, but you don't sicken me anymore. Now towel off. My niece wants to speak with you."

Morrigan entered, her usual dress replaced by her 'mortal clothes'. "Uncle. I have fought aside men clad in nothing but a leather loincloth, battle paint, and the blood of our enemies. I can handle the sight of a shirtless child."

"_You're_ still a child," he grumbled. "Only twenty six hundred years old. I doubt you've even grown into your ears." Despite his complaining, he got up all the same and left, probably to give the next individual lesson.

"What's with him? It's like you're another Mayako to him."

She shrugged. "He raised me after I accepted my demon form and went to Gehenna. I guess he still sees me as a little girl. Moving on." She motioned for him to sit down, which he did so gratefully. "I hope you see that you're becoming a team. And you should know that every team needs a leader." She looked at him meaningfully, with old eyes. The weight of her words set in, and he took a deep breath.

"You don't _actually _think I'm capable of leading nine other kids into battle."

She scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. "You are. _But…_ you are not the best choice. My first choice."

Tsukino didn't know it was so easy to deflate an ego he didn't have, and the look on his face said as much. "_What?_"

She shrugged, gathering handfuls of her curly black hair and pulling it back, grabbing a small dagger from her belt and sticking it through it, keeping it in place. "Simple process of elimination. The daughter of Satan is too unpredictable and terrified of her abilities. Akashi, though he has good control, is just like his father, a slimy, manipulative little weasel, even if he doesn't know it yet. Mayako is a ticking time bomb with no understanding of the extent of her powers. Katio is automatically out of consideration. He's the son of Agramon, enough said. Huyu may be powerful, but when it comes down to it, he can't pull the trigger, so to speak. He can't hurt someone. Daichi's too unfeeling. Kitkat doesn't have the mentality to lead, either. Mikada's too childish."

He performed a mental countoff in his head. The only ones left out were him and… "You gotta be kidding me. You think that _Emiko_ can be in charge?!"

"Not at the moment!" she shot back. "How daft to you think I am?! At the moment she is out of control, yes, but once she journeys past the demons that plague her mind, she has the heart to lead you. I'm not putting you in charge permanently because you think like a big brother. I've seen you around Rei. And Maki. You feel like you have to welcome everyone into your heart. That is good in a commander, but only in small amounts." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. It was only brief, but he could swear he saw hints of red and gold in them. "So what do you say? You up for it or not?"

He took her outstretched hand in his own. "You got a deal."

XXXXX

Azazel roared at the stinging sensation in his arm. Although he acted like the little bastards didn't do anything to him, they could pack a mean punch. Especially that brother of Rei's.

The red-haired, red-eyed girl beside him pressed the cloth harder. "Be a man, Azazel. I still can't believe you got your ass handed to you by a bunch of children. And under that Okumura boy's guidance, no less. You should've sent me after them. They'd be taking a dirt nap in two seconds flat."

"I had no need to waste one of my finest generals like that. You know that I have not seen talent like yours since…"

"Since your brat of a daughter grew a heart and put herself under Iblis' jurisdiction. I have heard the story. I was there when it happened. She's a weakling, anyway. She's just holed herself up in that little cottage for the last six hundred years."

Azazel scoffed. "You know I don't look kindly upon arrogance. Especially when you know how skilled she truly is. After all, she trained you and your sister, didn't she?"

Her red eyes took on a terrifying glow. "Never. Talk about my sister. She is just as weak as Macha. Even though she hasn't gone by that name in centuries. I can't stand her anymore, my sister. Always falling in love. Always denying that this world exists so she could help its beggars and bastards and all of those who 'need her'. I can't count how many times I've had to kill her husbands and children just to make her see sense." The cloth was pressed painfully into his neck now, the astringent used to help with the wounds setting the back of his neck on fire.

"Well, I know well enough now. You are going there. You will kill everybody but Rei, Okumura, and my weakling son, Huyu. You will bring those three back to Gehenna. You will hand Okumura over to Satan personally in Judecca. Perhaps father will have fun with him. As for the other two, bring them to me. I have a very special plan in place for my son. I see great potential in him. Do not fail me, Aoife of the Shadows."

The girl abandoned the cloth and knelt before Azazel. "I will not… Father."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


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